The eyes of the local news have been focused on the Gulf of Mexico since four boaters did not return from a Gulf fishing trip on Saturday. Interest was increased when recognizable names of four college or professional athletes were released by concerned authorities.
Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith – both former Tampa Buccaneer players – with Will Bleakley and Nick Schyler – both former USF (University of South Florida in Tampa) football players – were apparently anchored approximately 38 miles off shore Saturday when their boat capsized in bad weather.
Hopes were raised Monday when Nick Schyler was found and rescued from the hull of the overturned boat. Nick was transported by Coast Guard helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. He told Coast Guard officials that the four had not been wearing life vests when the boat capsized, but had been able to swim under the boat and retrieve four live vests.
Two planes and three ships continue to search more than 20,000 square miles – now focused on a smaller area with the information from the recovery of the boat – for the remaining three boaters.
Our thoughts are with the three remaining athletes and their families as we hope for a happy ending to this incident.
The picture below is a Coast Guard photo of Nick Schyler as he appeared on the hull of the capsized boat just prior to his rescue by the Coast Guard.
0 comments:
Post a Comment