A Florida boat captain became a hero after making a surprising ocean rescue — and he caught it all on camera.
In the clip, a disheveled Wright stood up on the side of Korinek’s boat holding a life vest.
“My f—— kayak went down literally, probably, I don’t know… probably two and a half miles ago,” Wright told Korinek in the video. “Every boat I screamed at, dude.”
“Thank you very much for stopping, bro,” he told Korinek.
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“When I turned around I was yelling and he wasn’t yelling back. I think he was about to give up when he realized I was coming,” Korinek said.
According toWPBF, Wright set out on the water on June 27 for a brief fishing trip. He then lent his kayak to someone else at a sand bar two miles out, who he said must have damaged it.
WARNING: Below Video Contains Explicit Language
When he started paddling on his way back to shore around 11 p.m., the boat began to sink.
“As I ran out of energy and as a storm kicked up it just got worse and worse and worse and basically I had to let go of every worldly possession,” Wright told the outlet. “Super cold, teeth chattering, muscles locked, that happened hours ago, so I’m pre-hypothermia, hypothermia.”
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After spending five hours in the cold water, Korinek’s boat came into view, according to WPBF.
“I was screaming mayday, mayday, I’m a fisherman in the water I have no vessel,” Wright said.
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According to the local news outlet, the captain took Wright back to the Fort Pierce, Florida, dock. They came together days later at the dock for a small reunion, celebrating their new friendship.
“You are my guardian angel, Tom. Thank God you were there,” Wright said to Korinek, per WPBF.
The captain organized aGoFundMeto help Wright replace all the fishing gear and the kayak he lost, along with “some new water safety equipment and a big whistle.”
Now that they’ve become good friends, the pair is looking to start a business together that promotes water safety, Korinek wrote in the GoFundMe description.
source: people.com
