Couple treaded water for 14 hours, Report

A man and woman out of South Florida somehow survived treading water in the open ocean for nearly 14 hours without life jackets.

Their boat capsized, and the couple was dumped into the ocean.

Sean McGovern, 50, from Key Largo, and Melissa Morris, 52, visiting from Texas, were rescued by two Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives and a firefighter/paramedic who were fishing for dolphins early Saturday. After the Coast Guard arrived, the couple was brought ashore with mild hypothermia and jellyfish stings.

McGovern and Morris weren’t wearing personal flotation devices and had no means to signal or communicate with nearby boaters, the Coast Guard reported.

The couple said their boat was in gear and pulled away from them before they could get back to it after falling overboard, according to sheriff’s reports. The couple had been trying to swim to safety ever since.

The three who rescued the couple were on a 28-foot Polar fishing boat when they saw what appeared to be fish jumping or birds feeding on the water’s surface. As they got closer, they saw it was a man waving a T-shirt while treading water.

Agencies/Canadajournal