MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) – A young boy is back on dry land after a miraculous save from the waters along the Treasure Coast.
His rescue served as a beacon of light to the community as its members coped with back-to-back drownings.
Captain Ryan Foster with Towboat US recalls the moment he spotted a missing teen who was clinging to a boogie board about a mile from the shore.
“I was just scanning the water. I looked directly north, and all I saw was the top of his hand waving over the waves,” said Ryan. “He was resting his arms up on the boogie board. He was trying to tread water as best he could. He had to have been out there probably well over an hour at that point.”
Photos provided by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office show the boy and rescuers from several agencies out there looking for him.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the boy had been at the beach with his family when his father called 911 when he could no longer see his son in the water.
“He drifted north nearly 2 miles,” said Martin County Fire Rescue Chief Joshua Shell.
MCSO, Fire Rescue, the Coast Guard, Jupiter Island Public Safety, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service all assisted in the search.
“We’re actually calling this a miracle recovery because usually when someone gets pulled away, they kind of stay in the general area depending on the wind and the currents,” said MCFR Chief Joshua. “But he unfortunately got pulled very far away, and by the grace of God, he was able to stay afloat.”
According to officials, this occurred at an unguarded beach at the Blowing Rocks Preserve. They advise all beachgoers to swim at a beach where there are lifeguards on duty, whenever possible.
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