Teen boy rescued after days adrift in Alaskan waters
The 15-year-old boy was rescued while the other two passengers from the capsized fishing vessel, his brother and cousin, died.
Teen boy rescued after days adrift in Alaskan waters
A 15-year-old boy has been rescued after spending days perched on top of a boat that capsized in the icy waters of Alaska's Bering Sea.
Family members identified the boy as Derek Parker Aghnaanga. He was the only person to survive the skiff, after his older brother and cousin died in the incident.
According to the US Coast Guard, the three had left St Lawrence Island on Friday 4 September and were expected back the following Sunday afternoon. When the 18-foot fishing vessel did not return, a search was launched.
A Coast Guard aircrew found the boy on top of the overturned boat on Monday morning, and a nearby good Samaritan vessel brought him to safety.
That vessel also recovered the bodies of his two relatives.
"Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and communities affected by the tragic loss of these two mariners," said Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard's Arctic District.
The USCG said the boy showed signs of hypothermia when he was rescued.
The captain of the fishing boat that rescued Aghnaanga told a local Anchorage news outlet that the teenager had held on to the skiff through darkness and water temperatures of around 50F (10C).
"That's one tough kid," captain Adam White told KTUU-TV.
"Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff," White added. "And then he said that, in the previous night, before our rescue, that his cousin had slipped away."
His mother wrote on Facebook that their fishing boat capsized on Saturday, leaving Aghnaanga without food or water for two days at sea.
Vina Kulowiyi, the mother of Aghnaanga and his older brother, said her sons were doing what they loved: fishing to help provide for people in their community who do not always have access to meat at their local store in Savoonga.
Savoonga, a village of about 800 people on St Lawrence Island off Alaska's coast, is mainly home to Siberian Yupik people. English and St Lawrence Island Yupik are the island's main languages.
"My boys were born and raised to be providers. A tradition that is passed on," Kulowiyi wrote on Facebook. "We hunt and provide for families and share the community."
Kulowiyi said her surviving son is recovering at home.
"My survivor," she wrote. "His story is amazing. He was never afraid the whole time."
He sat "praying the whole time", she added.