(WSVN) - Four men were out for a day of fishing when their boat starts taking on water. All could have been lost if it wasn’t for the heroes who rescued them. 7’s Rosh Lowe has their story in The Lowedown.
Ernesto Garcia: “Holy [expletive]!”
You can hear the fear and desperation of Ernesto Garcia as his boat starts taking on water.
Ernesto Garcia (Mayday call): “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, U.S. Coast Guard. [The boat is] taking on water. Motors are done.”
It was May 20. Ernesto and three other people were two miles off the coast of Key Biscayne.
Ernesto Garcia: “My motors were underwater, and I was taking on water very fast.”
Ernesto Garcia (Mayday call): “We got water inside the boat. It’s completely going under.”
Time was running out.
Ernesto Garcia: “Oh, man. The whole thing in here is flooded.”
Every second was crucial.
Ernesto Garcia (Mayday call): “Get the life jackets. I’ve got four males on board.”
Cellphone video captured the emergency at sea.
But help was on the way.
Rob Johnson, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue: “It can go from bad to worse in an instant, and our job is to get there as quickly as we can.”
Albert Abenciba, U.S. Coast Guard Reservist: “Everybody knew exactly what they needed to do, and our priority was to save that boat from sinking.”
This happened around 8 a.m. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue got on scene and realized they needed to use their hoses to get the water out of the boat so they could save lives.
Ernesto Garcia: “I looked north, I saw the big Miami-Dade Fire boat, and it was a relief.”
Officers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue used hoses to suck out all the water.
Rob Johnson: “We activated our fire pumps. We inserted two dewatering devices, and we were able to pump out 100 gallons of water per minute with those fire pumps.”
The story doesn’t end there.
It ends with the opportunity for Ernesto to find the people who raced into action. On this day, weeks after the rescue, he is able to embrace the first responders.
Ernesto Garcia: “Thank you, man.”
And give thanks.
Ernesto Garcia: “I wanted to thank you somehow, and I didn’t know how to reach you guys. Thanks to Channel 7, we’re able to meet. It was a scary moment and I appreciate your help.”
Beyond just a scary moment…
Ernesto Garcia: “There was nothing I could do if it wasn’t for these guys next to me, because there was no resolving the issue right away. We were going down.”
But they didn’t go down. They were saved.
From the waves at sea, to this wave of emotion, Ernesto will never forget how his calls for help were answered.
In Miami, Rosh Lowe, 7News.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.