An Alaskan teenager who was rescued after being stranded at sea for three days revealed the horrifying details of what happened.
Derek Parker Aghnaanga, 15, set out from Savoonga, a remote city located on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island on Friday, September 4, with his brother, 35-year-old Sidney Kulowiyi, and their cousin, 34-year-old Barton Rookok, to go fishing.
The trio were supposed to return in the early hours of Sunday, September 6, but never made it back. Alaska State Troopers were notified that the three were missing on the Sunday night, prompting a search involving Coast Guard aircraft and helicopters.
As per PEOPLE, dense fog in the region prevented crews from searching the waters until Monday morning. Eventually, the Coast Guard spotted Aghnaanga clinging to the boat at around 10:30am, and worked with the nearby Northwest Explorer to rescue him.
“We saw the unusual object on the horizon. We blasted our horn a couple times,” Northwest Explorer captain Adam White said, according to Alaska’s News Source.
In a dramatic video of the rescue, the 15-year-old, wearing a bright yellow jacket, can be seen kneeling on top of the overturned boat as the Northwest Explorer approaches.
Crew members threw the teenager a line and pulled the skiff closer before hauling him aboard in a rescue basket. They then wrapped him in blankets and used hot packs to keep him warm while the vessel headed toward Nome, where he could reunite with his family.
Tragically, Aghnaanga was the only survivor of the three family members who had set out to fish for halibut. The teen was able to reveal what had befallen them leading to the disaster.
“Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff and then he said that in the previous night before our rescue that his cousin had slipped away off the top of the skiff,” White said.
“I am not sure how anybody else would survive that,” he added, describing the time taken to reach the capsized boat as “the longest four hours of my life.”
Aghnaanga’s mother, Vina Kulowiyi, later stated that Aghnaanga’s older brother, the captain of the small vessel, had been trapped beneath the overturned skiff and died. Aghnaanga had then reportedly watched, helpless, as his cousin ultimately slipped from the boat and drowned.
The bodies of Kulowiyi and Rookok were later recovered.
Aghnaanga was trapped the overturned boat for days without food or water.
His mom described her son as a “survivor”, penning an emotional message on Facebook that read “he was never afraid the whole time”.
“He lived on prayer with no food and water,” she added.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s remarkable,” White told KTUU of the teen’s survival. “It’s cold. The water is 10 degrees Celsius.”
“Saturday, all the way to Tuesday, that kid was on top of that skiff,” the captain added. “I mean, that’s one tough kid.”
A GoFundMe page has been established in light of the incident. It can be found here.
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