JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — A boater and a good Samaritan are speaking out days after a vessel with five men on board capsized off the Florida coast.
Mohammad El Itani and Brandon Parson shared their stories for the first time earlier this week. El Itani and four other fishermen were left stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after their 24-foot vessel capsized on Sunday off the coast of Jacksonville.
An audio recording captured one of the boaters’ frantic call for help.
“It’s, like, it’s sinking to say we’re like, like it’s sinking,” said one of the rescued fishermen.
“OK, where are you guys?” said the 911 dispatcher.
“We’re on a boat,” said the fisherman.
“OK, where are you?” said the dispatcher.
“We’re at the boat. We’re at the boat. We’re with the boat. We’re on the boat. Oh, my God,” said the fisherman.
The five fishermen all huddled together on top of a capsized boat as they radioed in for help.
“At the time, we put our jackets on; the boat flips upside down right away, and we were able to manage ourselves to stay on the boat, I mean, upside down,” said El Itani.
But Parson and other fishermen were on board another boat that was in the right place at the right time to spot them stranded boaters.
“I see a boat in the distance,” said a fisherman.
“They’re anchored, but the boat is upside down,” said another fisherman.
Once the stranded boaters saw the other boat, they did everything to get their attention for help.
“I’m sitting here watching, and next thing you know, I have people like this, waving, ‘Hey,” said Parson. “I jump up ,like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?'”
The group of friends immediately took action as the stranded men could barely hang on to their sinking boat.
“Bless y’all,” said one of the rescued fishermen.
“We’re not going to leave you out here,” said a man.
The men waited alongside the capsized boat until the U.S. Coast Guard responded.
“It was it was, truly – we saw three boats the whole day, so if it wasn’t for us, there would have been no other chance,” said Parson. “It was like the grace of God that we ended up there.”
The family of the stranded fishermen said a pump failure may have caused the boat to capsize.
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