That's what I think, reading:
"Boy, 15, Drifted for Days on an Overturned Boat Before Rescue/The teenager survived in the Bering Sea off Alaska without food or water before a fishing vessel pulled him to safety, the Coast Guard said" (NYT gift link).
The ordeal began Friday morning when the teenager, Derek Parker Aghnaanga, set sail with his older brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, 35, to catch halibut, according to their mother, Vina Kulowiyi.
Ms. Kulowiyi declined to comment but referred to a public Facebook post in which she gave a brief account of their journey and rescue.
“He was never afraid the whole time,” she wrote.... “He lived on prayer,” she said.
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22 comments:
It's hard to imagine that he felt no fear, honestly, especially as his brother and cousin died, although it's true that it's not clear whether he saw/knew this or not.
I understand his mother speaking for him; of course she wants to protect him, and he may not be in any shape to comment anyway. I imagine also that she, and her family, are engulfed in grief: she, and they, lost a son and a nephew, after all. Of course they are mourning these losses along with being so grateful that the [only] 15-year-old survived. (His older brother was 35, it seems, and I don't know about the cousin.
This a story about which so many people are or will be interested. But the time is not "ripe." Let them recover a bit, let them protect the survivor, for a bit. I say: We can wait to hear more.
One account states that the brother was trapped under the skiff and still there when the boy was rescued. The cousin was with the boy initially and was there for a day before slipping off.
Harrowing story. And unbelievable courage and faith in a young man.
Outward Bound, which we think of as a kind of liberal-hippie outfit, was founded after a study of WW2 merchant marine ship sinkings found the older mariners survived better on open water than the young wartime volunteers. Because even with their broke-down bodies, the older guys had a better survival mindset.
The sea also gets a vote, though, as this case shows. CC, JSM
"Things not believed" tag appears to be missing.
Achilles probably remembers doing capsize drills at Ranger School. Your strongest, most agile guy gets picked to leap out of the water, grab the opposite side of the boat, and pull it back. Sometimes takes a few tries. Really fear-inducing as you feel the heat leave your body. Especially when you get back in and the RI riding a motorboat next to you says "Capsize!" again over his bullhorn. And this is in Florida swamp. Even in the winter, probably nowhere near as cold as Alaskan open sea in September. Plus we got to paddle to shore right after and do sprints until we warmed back up.
If this lad and his relatives had managed to right the boat, they'd still have been soaked thru in 40 degree weather, in open seas. RLTW, JSM
How big is a skiff?
From the picture, it looked to be about 5 feet wide.
They were fishermen so they were wearing water-repellent outer gear and warm clothes underneath. You can see that in the picture. Still the boy was slowly freezing to death aka "moderate hypothermia." Out of sight of land on the Arctic Ocean, alone and dying, he simply prayed. It's quite believable,
The NYT reporter writes:
"He had aimlessly drifted in the north Bering Sea, a vast ocean between Alaska and Russia near the North Pole."
It's not a "vast ocean," stupid. It's a sea. That's why it's called the Bering Sea!
If she wanted to protect him she would have left that "He lived on Prayer" part out.
This country is full of rabid evil shit eating secularists who are going to try to ruin their lives because of those 4 words.
Unless he was praying to allah of course. Then all of those mostly white college educated women will put on a burka for him.
Quite a survival story. I wonder if he had a dry suit on, in those conditions.
Old-fashioned journalism rules suggest that in the first few paragraphs of a story that details an event like this, you would include all pertinent details, clearly set out. The timeline is all there, but not easy to extract, and nowhere is the boat fully described (length, beam (width), etc.), nor whatever safety measures were in place on a vessel plying near-Arctic seas. But at least, this time, the NYT didn't try to make it about Trump.
When you're a 15 y/o boy you're too stupid to be scared.
Theme today: survival in Alaska.
Waiting for the Grizzly Man update to drop.
I bet the boy felt he was alone in a vast sea with no beginning or end, lonejustice.
Only a psychopath wouldn't be afraid.
Now, that is an example of doing something extreme just for the halibut.
15 days without food is doable, but it without water??? Is it?
“He lived on prayer"
Reasonable deduction, since there wasn't anything else.
@ Dude
The kid was 15 years old, he didn't drift for 15 days. They went out on Friday, planned to be back early Sunday morning and were found Monday morning. It doesn't say at what point the capsize happened.
Prayer is good for you when drifting anywhere.
When I go hiking now I carry a green pocket laser.
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