Man Miraculously Reunites With His Family After Hours Of Being Lost At Sea

Feb 02, 2023 by apost team

The thought of losing someone can be painful in so many ways. Whether it be a person walking away from one’s life or a person passing away, the amount of pain can become insurmountable to those that person left behind. But imagine suddenly not hearing from someone close to your heart or not knowing whether that person will ever return home. It can especially be worrisome and will never bring peace to a person’s loved ones, even if there were unresolved conflicts before that person went missing. That’s what happened to a mother who thought she had lost her son. But thankfully, they had a happy ending as they eventually reunited.   

A man from Key West, Florida, named Dylan Gartenmayer, grew up in a household known for spearfishing and free diving.

“And I do a lot of deep free diving, so I like to go over 100-plus feet on a single breath,” Dylan told NBC 6. 

Some people might think it’s impossible for him to get lost at sea, given his years of experience navigating how spearfishing and free diving work. Sadly, nature was far more powerful than him as he encountered a strong Gulf Stream current that got him missing for several hours.

In December 2022, he went free diving with two of his friends. They were watching him from the boat above while he was in the ocean.

They noticed at one point that the weather condition was worsening, so their free diving adventure had to be put to a halt and head back to the land to ensure their safety. But instead of leaving right away, he decided to do one more dive.

Sharing what happened, recalled: “I ran back out and that’s where everything started happening.” 

In a TikTok video shared by her cousin Priscilla, Dylan said that his friends do not deserve to be blamed for what happened to him.

“It was a mix of all the conditions that happened for me to get separated from them. I have no blame towards them at all,” he said.

He went on to explain that his friends were following him “pretty good” while he was drift diving. But his friends could not see him each time he resurfaced, given the weather conditions. Then, the boat eventually disappeared.

“I knew that there were big fish eating those baits and there were sharks that were going to be shortly behind them. I was ready to fight the night out, but I’m glad I didn’t have to,” he told NBC 6. 

So, what he did was he made sure to take off everything heavy around him so he could swim freely. Thankfully, he found a bamboo stick to float him. But he knew he could not just hang on to it until the end. So, he had to make about a mile-and-a-quarter swim to get to the nearest reef.

Dylan’s family, who got a call after he got lost at sea, said the coast guard tried looking for him for 2 hours. His family, on the other hand, tracked his last known coordinates. It became a challenge to find him, but they kept on searching and eventually found him.

In another video shared by Priscilla, Dylan’s mom could be seen giving him the biggest hug.

Without a doubt, it became the worst nightmare for his family. But miracles do happen, as he eventually made it and survived.

apost.com

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