SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) – A desperate call for help came from a fisherman after his boat suddenly capsized.
Dan Watson managed to pull his phone from his pants pocket underwater and dial 911 after he fell into cold waters while out fishing.
“I can’t hear you! I’m in the water!” he said to a dispatcher. “I’m in the middle of Lake Harney!”
Winds moving at 20 miles per hour had knocked him into the frigid January water in Seminole County.
“Did you fall out of the boat?” asked the dispatcher. “Stay above water; they’re coming as fast as they can.”
As rescue crews made their way to the boater fighting for his life, two good Samaritans got to him first.
The fishermen were passing by when they spotted Watson panicked in the waters. Without hesitation, they pulled him aboard their boat.
“911, are you still there?” Billy McClure, one of the fishermen, asked.
“Yes, I’m still here,” said the dispatcher. “Can you hear me?”
“Okay. We have him rescued. I have him on my boat.”
Minutes later, emergency responders loaded him into their airboat to get him to shore, quickly taking him to a hospital as the hypothermia had begun to set in.
“From calling 911 to waking up in the hospital, everything else was a blur,” Dan said. “I’m truly blessed by God.”
Friday, Seminole County honored the good Samaritans who pulled him from the water and all the crews who worked together in the rescue.
Watson said he’s especially thankful for the calming voice of the dispatcher, Jonathan Flores, the last voice he remembered that day.
Flores says it’s Watson’s voice that he’ll remember forever.
“His willingness and strength to stay struggling in water for how long he did has made a mark on me,” he said.
The good Samaritans who saved Watson said they hope they can all go fishing together some day.
