FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Several good Samaritans with a water sports company came to the rescue of a group of divers that found themselves stranded off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
Anthony Burg with Aqua Flight said he, along with his captain and crew, rushed to the aid to the divers, who were taking advantage of the Lobster Sport mini-season, early Wednesday morning.
“I was standing on the boat, and I looked to my left, and there’s this guy, like, waving his arms like, freaking out,” said Burg, “and you just see the boat angled like this, and immediately, I got – I grabbed my phone and I called the police.”
Burg immediately shot a flare and alerted Sea Tow Fort Lauderdale.
“So, the boat was anchored and it just – the bilge pump failed, and they just started taking out water, and it seemed like I saw them, like, pumping pockets and putting life vests on,” said Burg. “I was like, ‘OK, like, this is serious.'”
Burg said the Aqua Flight crew came into contact with Sea Tow a short time later.
“We pulled up to Sea Tow, went up, ‘Hey, you guys need anything else?’ Like, ‘Is there anybody else?’ [They said], ‘Yeah, there are two other divers,'” said Burg. “I am like, ‘Where?’ [They said], ‘Somewhere that way.'”
Burg said he and his crew found one diver who had run out of oxygen and was holding the red diver emergency flag.
“We immediately got her on the boat, and then we gotta wait for him to basically come up,” said Burg. “Apparently they were running out of air.”
Burg got both divers safely on his boat, and the emergency crew arrived at Burg’s boat.
“They were very, very thankful, you know, thanked us a million times and everything, you know. They actually got some lobsters,” said Burg. “This is 100% a team effort. Nobody got hurt, you know, we were able to help people, and that’s basically what we are all about.”
The boat was towed back to shore. All the divers are safe and reported no injuries.
Burg said he let the divers keep the lobsters that they caught, as they had already been through enough.
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