PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A relaxing day on the water earlier this week turned into a life-saving mission for two off-duty Pasco County detention deputies.
- Incident occurred May 8
- Detention deputies Sean Powers, William Gay out boating near Hudson
- Deputies found family of fishermen from Ocala already in the water
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"I'm just glad it worked out the way it worked out," said Pasco County Detention Deputy Sean Powers.
Powers and his friend and fellow detention deputy William Gay were boating near Hudson on their day off May 8. They went deeper into the Gulf of Mexico to catch bigger fish and reeled in a family of fishermen instead.
It was quite the rescue for detention deputies who only started boating two weeks ago.
"There's that natural instinct that something's not right and then there's the training that we need to save these people," said Gay.
Worn out, the Ocala fishermen told authorities their boat sank. One of them suffered a head injury.
It's unclear how long they were in the water before the deputies got them to the marine unit.
"They never even got a distress call out from them," said Corporal Mitch Bollenbacher of the Pasco County Sheriff's Marine Unit. "If [the deputies] hadn't found them floating on an ice cooler, holding a life jacket, who knows where they might have ended up?"
Authorities said the fishermen were thankful and are expected to be okay.
But none were wearing life jackets. Authorities believe that could have been a deadly mistake if the detention deputies had not spotted arms waving for help.
“Everybody goes out to have a good time and no one thinks, 'my boat is going to sink,'” said Bollenbacher.
He hopes this incident serves as a reminder to wear a life vest.
“Take it out of the plastic,” Bollenbacher said. “Know how to put it on. Put it on. You got 30 to 90 seconds between the time that water comes in until the time the boat goes under.”
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials are investigating the boating accident.