FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A local mother said her two sons and their friend were in a boat returning from fishing off the coast of Fernandina Beach on Sunday afternoon when they got caught in a violent storm.
She said one of her sons was knocked unconscious during the ordeal, but, thankfully the three young men on board are OK after another boat came to their aid.
“It was completely overwhelming. Just the fact that normal people would endanger themselves to go out and help my children,” said Brook Todd.
Todd said her sons Noah and Carter, who are in their early 20s, and their friend were fishing off the coast of Fernandina Beach when a storm quickly blew in.
“My heart’s racing, and I’m panicking,” said Todd, recounting speaking with one of her sons on the phone in the midst of the storm. “And he just kept saying, ‘Mom, the boat’s taking on water. We’re going down. I need help. I need help.’”
She said the phone service was bad and the signal eventually cut out.
“It was just total panic,” Todd said.
She said she called the Nassau County non-emergency line and the Coast Guard and then turned to Facebook pleading for help.
“I had hundreds of messages, calls, texts people willing to put in at that point go out and help them, and they did,” Todd said.
The Coast Guard lieutenant in charge of the search and rescue operation center in Jacksonville it acted immediately and broadcast to boaters on the radio about the distress call and worked with their partners to send out rescue teams.
“The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office was the closest asset, so we did immediately reach out to them and ask them for assistance,” said Lt. Karolina Del Hierro Vega, who is the U.S. Coast Guard command center chief in Jacksonville.
Records provided by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office show their marine unit was dispatched within five minutes of the initial distress call.
Less than 30 minutes after the original distress call from the boat, it was canceled after other boaters came to the aid of Todd’s sons and their friend, helping them make it safely back to shore.
“My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude for the community,” Todd said.
The Coast Guard urges boaters to keep a close eye on the weather forecast because it can change quickly and to have safety gear and radio on board so they can get help in an emergency.