Posted on 07/14/2018 5:06:40 AM PDT by BBell
T. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - A 19-year-old spent nearly 10 hours in the ocean fighting for his life.
“Worst vacation ever, but also my most exciting ever,” said Blake Spataro.
But it’s the kind of excitement we’d all like to avoid.
“I was out there sitting by the shore when a rip tide washes me straight into the ocean,” he said.
The teen was stranded in the ocean for nearly 10 hours.
“I didn’t want to die out there. I was talking to God the entire night,” Spataro said.
He screamed for help, but no one heard him over the waves and wind. He said he continued to get pulled out to sea Tuesday night.
“I wanted to live, I wanted to live, I was too young to die and I didn’t want it to end there,” said Spataro.
For hours, the U.S. Coast Guard searched in the sky and by boat, along with multiple agencies. Spataro’s father, Kirk, spent all night walking up and down the beach, desperate to find his son.
“I was screaming, I was hollering, I was looking,” Kirk Spataro said.
Throughout the night, the 19-year-old did his best to stay calm.
“Whenever I was tired I floated on my back,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at actionnewsjax.com ...
I was an excellent swimmer, probably still am, but one thing I had a difficult time with was floating. I could tread water but I was a sinker. I could fill my lungs with air and I would still sink. My sister in law is like an otter. She can float on her back all day with no effort.
Sharks missed one.
Amazing! Great young man that knows God deserves the glory.
Glad it as GA not AK or instead of the 10 hours would be 10 minutes ...
AMEN.
The teen must have a special plan GOD made for his life that has not yet been accomplished.
He’s lucky, and he should have known the drownproofing survival float technique. Floating on your back isn’t the ticket.
Good history and background here. Some of the pics aren’t coming up, though.
http://www.drownproofing.com
There is a good diagram of the technique here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090204062356/http://lifesavingclub.com/lifesavers/survival-swimming/drownproofing.html
Biggest thing going for him, he did not panic nor give into despair, even after those long hours in the dark! Faith in God, composure and the will to live kept him going! Remember this when the atheists talk about the failures and weakness in having a religious belief, this is a singular counter-argument!
I don’t think he’d have been swimming at the beach in AK to have gotten in the situation in the first place.
Coasties again.
I’ve never heard of sitting on shore to then get washed by an incoming wave and pulled out. Not to mention, a rip tide is narrow and easily escaped.
I’ve never been able to float either. And that didn’t go over well in Navy boot camp.
“I was out there sitting by the shore when a rip tide washes me straight into the ocean,” he said.”
....
“The teen kept pushing through until he came across a golf course early Wednesday morning where he came close enough to walk to shore and get help.”
Sounds a little odd. Alien abduction, maybe? To embarrassed to talk about the things the aliens did to him?
“I don’t think he’d have been swimming at the beach in AK to have gotten in the situation in the first place.”
We took a cruise to AK a couple of years ago. One of the best vacations of my life!
We got lucky and had sunny days and something of a heat wave, talking to the locals, temps in the 70’s! People had their doors and windows open and alabaster families in bikini’s and shorts splashed in icy waters.
In December and January we see Canadians swimming in our waters in coastal Virginia. East Coasters are spoiled by the Gulf Stream waters!
Glad the kid is ok, but I'll hafta agree with ya. We lived at the coast for a long time. Never heard of anyone being dragged off the beach by a rogue riptide either.
Prolly got told by his parents to stay outta the water and is trying to cover hizzazz. Hehehe. d;^)
I don’t think he was in the water 10 hours. I suspect an attention seeker.
Honestly, I prefer the Gulf to the East Coast beaches. It’s like bath water, temperature wise.
I was taught that in Coast Guard Boot Camp. The real limiting factor though is hypothermia. Even if the water is 80 degrees you will lose temperature.
Alaskans swim all the time in their waters. Air temp 50 degrees and the bikinis are out. Seriously not kidding.
Does sound fishy in several ways.
I’ve taught that to hundreds of kids and other beginner swimmers, we called it the jellyfish float for the kids, they loved that, being like a jellyfish. That it made them far, far less likely to ever drown was icing on the cake, they just thought it was fun. The adults were a little more uptight and challenging, some not wanting to even get their faces and hair wet. Teaching them to gently exhale both nose and mouth while their faces were underwater always relaxed them, and kept water out of their noses which can be uncomfortable, even a little painful if inhaled a bit. Gentle exhaling is also very calming, as is the jellyfish float or survival float. Great intro to water safety that doesn’t seem like what it really is. I highly recommend it to anyone learning to swim, or teaching someone else to swim.
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