A married couple of divers spent nearly 40 hours stranded in the ocean near the Gulf of Mexico, separated from their dive boat.
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Kim and Nathan Maker, from Oklahoma, went on a diving trip on Wednesday, July 24 off the coast of Matagorda, Texas. However, it began to get stormy, with waters becoming rough, they told Good Morning America.
Apparently, at one point, a woman from the group began drifting away after losing her grip on the boat’s downline. Immediately, Nathan attempted to save her.
“I was swimming with everything I had to get her back to the line,” he said. “And we got her to the line, and I just was within arm’s reach.”
During this time, Kim, too, got knocked from the line. The couple were soon caught in the current, away from the boat. The group began searching for them but couldn’t locate them in the water.
“The boat was getting smaller and smaller and smaller until it was completely out of sight,” Nathan told GMA. “Kim and I just kinda took inventory of what we had on us, and we tethered ourselves together.”
Married Divers Stranded at Sea for Nearly 40 Hours
Since the boat knew they’d gone missing, they alerted the Coast Guard, who began their search for Nathan and Kim.
“Because our body temperatures were dropping, we needed to keep swimming, or we probably would’ve frozen to death,” Kim said. “[Nathan] absolutely is the reason that we’re alive, just keeping our spirits up because it would have been really easy to give up.”
Though they were stranded for nearly 40 hours, they kept fighting for their lives until they finally spotted rescue planes.
“When that plane turned its nose towards us, Kim hit SOS on her [flashlight], and they saw us,” Nathan said.
“Just out of the corner of our eyes, this speedboat comes just streaming in, and all of a sudden, I can hear the voices of the Coast Guard guys,” Kim says, her voice shaking with emotion.
Nathan — who is a diabetic — was nearly in a coma when the Coast Guard found him. Thankfully, they’re both recovering well today.
“This sounds cheesy, but I really believe we saw the hand of God that day,” Nathan said. “And it was the hand of the Coast Guard.”