1 00:00:00,009 --> 00:00:01,898 My name is Michael Sparks . I'm a 2 00:00:01,898 --> 00:00:03,953 machinery technician to second class 3 00:00:03,953 --> 00:00:06,009 stationed at Station Riceville Beach 4 00:00:06,009 --> 00:00:07,787 here in Riceville Beach , North 5 00:00:07,787 --> 00:00:09,898 Carolina . I was the cox in yesterday 6 00:00:09,898 --> 00:00:13,170 for our diver rescue offshore . Um I'm 7 00:00:13,180 --> 00:00:15,399 here to tell you the the story . So we 8 00:00:15,409 --> 00:00:17,520 received the call at about 1230 right 9 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,229 after lunch time that there was a diver 10 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:22,440 offshore that hadn't surfaced . That 11 00:00:22,450 --> 00:00:25,450 was the call that we got . So we got 12 00:00:25,459 --> 00:00:27,681 ocean rescue to send us a medic just in 13 00:00:27,681 --> 00:00:29,459 case we did find him and he had 14 00:00:29,459 --> 00:00:31,681 decompressed sign . So we would be able 15 00:00:31,681 --> 00:00:33,792 to care for him better than if it was 16 00:00:33,792 --> 00:00:35,903 just us doing basic first aid . He uh 17 00:00:35,903 --> 00:00:38,126 got to the station faster than we could 18 00:00:38,126 --> 00:00:40,126 get on the boat . We launched about 19 00:00:40,126 --> 00:00:43,360 1240 1245 receded . It was about 32 20 00:00:43,369 --> 00:00:45,750 miles from the inlet pretty much due 21 00:00:45,759 --> 00:00:48,490 east when we arrived on scene . The 22 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:50,849 position that we had was the position 23 00:00:50,860 --> 00:00:53,082 that his wife that was on the boat that 24 00:00:53,082 --> 00:00:57,009 he left from . And when we within 6 ft 25 00:00:57,020 --> 00:00:59,131 of that location , there was a safety 26 00:00:59,131 --> 00:01:01,187 buoy that the diver had sent up from 27 00:01:01,187 --> 00:01:03,353 the bottom . And me with my experience 28 00:01:03,353 --> 00:01:05,353 diving being an advanced open water 29 00:01:05,353 --> 00:01:07,520 diver . I knew that that could just be 30 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,576 him marking something or it could be 31 00:01:09,576 --> 00:01:11,520 him en trapped or entangled on the 32 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,599 bottom . So we had us , we had a hilo 33 00:01:14,610 --> 00:01:16,709 from air station Elizabeth City . We 34 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:18,831 also had a good s it was another dive 35 00:01:18,831 --> 00:01:20,831 vessel out there that was assisting 36 00:01:20,831 --> 00:01:22,887 searching . And then we had his , of 37 00:01:22,887 --> 00:01:25,109 course , his boat with his wife on it . 38 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:27,819 Uh When we made a termination , that 39 00:01:27,830 --> 00:01:29,774 was a buoy that he had marked , we 40 00:01:29,774 --> 00:01:31,941 pulled it up a little bit , had a line 41 00:01:31,941 --> 00:01:34,108 going to the bottom . My first thought 42 00:01:34,108 --> 00:01:36,274 was it could be him on the bottom . So 43 00:01:36,274 --> 00:01:39,480 we asked that uh good Samaritan boat , 44 00:01:39,489 --> 00:01:41,711 his fishing vessel , family affair . It 45 00:01:41,711 --> 00:01:43,489 was , they were diving that day 46 00:01:43,489 --> 00:01:45,711 thankfully . Uh If they had divers that 47 00:01:45,711 --> 00:01:47,711 could get wet immediately , uh They 48 00:01:47,711 --> 00:01:49,822 were about two miles away , they were 49 00:01:49,822 --> 00:01:51,822 down swell , you know , searching , 50 00:01:51,822 --> 00:01:54,330 maybe he had floated off . Uh They were 51 00:01:54,339 --> 00:01:56,561 making their way to us . They were only 52 00:01:56,561 --> 00:01:58,728 able to make about five knots with the 53 00:01:58,728 --> 00:02:00,450 sea state . It was 4 to 5 ft , 54 00:02:00,450 --> 00:02:03,040 occasional 6 ft . We left the safety 55 00:02:03,050 --> 00:02:06,309 buoy and did a personnel transfer . We 56 00:02:06,319 --> 00:02:08,486 picked up all three of the divers they 57 00:02:08,486 --> 00:02:10,708 had available and we're proceeding back 58 00:02:10,708 --> 00:02:14,029 to that safety buoy to send them down 59 00:02:14,039 --> 00:02:15,872 to see if he , you know , was in 60 00:02:15,872 --> 00:02:18,289 trouble . And time is the essence of , 61 00:02:18,300 --> 00:02:21,309 of the essence there is if he at that 62 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:23,550 point , we got unseen . He was supposed 63 00:02:23,559 --> 00:02:25,615 to have surfaced about an hour and a 64 00:02:25,615 --> 00:02:28,559 half prior and limited air , limited 65 00:02:28,570 --> 00:02:31,440 air in a tank at 100 ft of depth . We 66 00:02:31,449 --> 00:02:33,839 knew that time was the most important 67 00:02:33,850 --> 00:02:36,419 thing . Thankfully , once we got those 68 00:02:36,429 --> 00:02:39,339 divers on our boat and we're proceeding 69 00:02:39,350 --> 00:02:42,679 back , the kilo actually spotted the 70 00:02:42,690 --> 00:02:45,059 diver . So he had marked his anchor 71 00:02:45,190 --> 00:02:47,740 with that buoy and then he had surfaced 72 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,389 with it . Yeah , he was able to hold on 73 00:02:50,399 --> 00:02:52,732 to that buoy for about 45 minutes or so . 74 00:02:52,732 --> 00:02:54,899 He said once he surfaced , he actually 75 00:02:54,899 --> 00:02:57,066 surfaced pretty much on time . But the 76 00:02:57,066 --> 00:02:59,121 anchor line that , that anchor would 77 00:02:59,121 --> 00:03:01,232 have been attached to to his boat had 78 00:03:01,232 --> 00:03:03,399 parted and his wife and the vessel had 79 00:03:03,399 --> 00:03:05,621 floated away with the sea state and the 80 00:03:05,621 --> 00:03:07,843 current um I brought 45 minutes hold on 81 00:03:07,843 --> 00:03:09,955 to it in the sea state . He said with 82 00:03:09,955 --> 00:03:12,066 the waves and the length of line that 83 00:03:12,066 --> 00:03:13,955 he had to work with , it was just 84 00:03:13,955 --> 00:03:16,010 constantly dragging him under and it 85 00:03:16,010 --> 00:03:18,232 was really difficult onto . So he ended 86 00:03:18,232 --> 00:03:20,343 up letting go of it . That's when the 87 00:03:20,343 --> 00:03:22,566 helo he , they spotted him about a mile 88 00:03:22,566 --> 00:03:24,677 and a half from that uh buoy marker . 89 00:03:24,677 --> 00:03:26,843 Also with another one that he inflated 90 00:03:26,843 --> 00:03:29,010 that he was waving at the hilo and the 91 00:03:29,010 --> 00:03:31,177 helo spotted him and infected us to go 92 00:03:31,177 --> 00:03:33,288 pick him up . We picked him up out of 93 00:03:33,288 --> 00:03:35,621 the water . He was in very good spirits . 94 00:03:35,621 --> 00:03:37,788 For somebody that had been floating at 95 00:03:37,788 --> 00:03:39,899 that point for 2.5 or so hours . Uh , 96 00:03:39,899 --> 00:03:42,066 put him back on his boat , he went and 97 00:03:42,066 --> 00:03:41,860 retrieved his anchor and then we 98 00:03:41,869 --> 00:03:43,925 escorted back in just to make sure . 99 00:03:43,925 --> 00:03:45,980 And they made it all the way back in 100 00:03:45,980 --> 00:03:48,202 from 30 miles offshore safe . Uh It was 101 00:03:48,202 --> 00:03:50,480 a good case . I just want to thank our , 102 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,591 the relationships that we've built in 103 00:03:52,591 --> 00:03:55,869 the community with the Ogas having uh a 104 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,102 phone call , one phone call and we have 105 00:03:58,102 --> 00:04:00,324 a medic show up . It was less than five 106 00:04:00,324 --> 00:04:02,380 minutes and we get on the boat so we 107 00:04:02,380 --> 00:04:04,213 can have that extra medical care 108 00:04:04,213 --> 00:04:06,102 underway and in getting all those 109 00:04:06,102 --> 00:04:08,250 assets offshore in about an hour or 110 00:04:08,259 --> 00:04:11,240 less . Uh with the hilo our boat , the 111 00:04:11,250 --> 00:04:13,306 good stand that was on scene to help 112 00:04:13,306 --> 00:04:16,299 having all that capability offshore , 113 00:04:16,309 --> 00:04:19,700 that quickly really led to what could 114 00:04:19,709 --> 00:04:22,170 have been a much worse situation . So , 115 00:04:22,179 --> 00:04:25,269 a year ago today , the uh divers from a 116 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,279 case last year were picked up after 117 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:29,557 being in the water for almost two days , 118 00:04:29,557 --> 00:04:31,557 they're in the same vicinity . They 119 00:04:31,557 --> 00:04:33,723 were diving off of frying pen towers . 120 00:04:33,723 --> 00:04:33,640 We were , but even with frying pen 121 00:04:33,649 --> 00:04:35,649 towers as far as offshore goes , we 122 00:04:35,649 --> 00:04:37,816 were just a little bit farther north . 123 00:04:37,816 --> 00:04:39,982 Yeah , it's crazy to think about , you 124 00:04:39,982 --> 00:04:42,093 know , on the one year anniversary of 125 00:04:42,093 --> 00:04:44,149 one of the better cases we've had in 126 00:04:44,149 --> 00:04:46,316 this area and one of the best outcomes 127 00:04:46,316 --> 00:04:48,427 when we were really thinking it was , 128 00:04:48,427 --> 00:04:50,593 it was the worst , the worst situation 129 00:04:50,593 --> 00:04:52,871 after being almost two days I ended up , 130 00:04:52,871 --> 00:04:54,816 you know , we found them , they're 131 00:04:54,816 --> 00:04:57,100 still alive . Uh That was a exceptional 132 00:04:57,109 --> 00:04:59,165 case and then one year later to have 133 00:04:59,165 --> 00:05:01,480 the same , same outcome , much shorter 134 00:05:01,489 --> 00:05:03,829 case , but the same outcome , it's a , 135 00:05:04,529 --> 00:05:05,839 it's a crazy thing to think about .