Florida Couple Rescued After Treading Water 14 Hours
Sean McGovern and Mellisa Morris are saved by off-duty public safety workers
A Florida couple are lucky to be alive after being stranded in open water seven miles off the coast of Key Largo.
After treading water for 14 hours, Sean McGovern, 50, and Mellisa Morris, 52, were rescued by off-duty public safety workers who had gone out fishing Saturday morning, the Broward County Sheriff’s Department told CNN.
The couple had fallen off their boat, which was in gear and sped away from them, about 6 p.m. Friday night. They did not have life jackets or any device to signal for help.
“[They were] very distraught, tired, you could tell they’d been in the water for a long time,” Keith Silvis, one of the rescuers, told CNN.
“The female, when we brought her on board, her legs were actually cramped, she couldn’t even move them. We had to actually lift her out of the water,” said rescuer Steve Couch.
Along with fighting exhaustion, the couple also had to deal with jellyfish stings.
“The male, Sean, said he ran into about three or four jellyfish stings during the course of the evening,” Couch said.
The couple were taken to the Fort Lauderdale Coast Guard, which examined their health. They suffered from mild hypothermia but did not go to the hospital.