Boaters Whose Ship Sank in Shark-Infested Waters Have Emotional Reunion with Coast Guard Rescuers

Mar. 15, 2025

Two men who survived more than 24 hours in the Gulf of Mexico after their boat capsized have spoken out about their harrowing experience for the first time.

Phong Le and Luan Nguyen were two of three menrescued on Sundayafter reportedly spendingmore than 30 hoursin shark and jellyfish-infested waters off the Louisiana coastline.

In an interview Wednesday withTodayhostsSavannah GuthrieandHoda Kotb, Le said the trio managed to survive after finding a brief signal on his cellphone in the middle of the gulf.

“I just opened up my phone to see my location. I opened up my Apple Maps to see where I’m at and it showed me my location,” Le explained.

“I screenshotted it and all the text message started coming in when I turned off the airplane mode,” he added.

Quickly, Le texted a friend, writing, “I’m floating out to sea, my boat sank.” The friend then sent the message to the Coast Guard, which ultimately located the missing boaters.

The text message showed the victims' exact coordinates, simplifying the search for rescuers, per the report.

Coast Guard rescuers boaters who were fending off sharks.U.S. Coast Guard Heartland

Three members of the search crew — Lieutenant Commander Kevin Keefe, Katy Caraway and Andrew Stone — joined Le and Nguyen on stage during Wednesday’s interview onTodayfor a special reunion.

Stone said the victims “were very tired, sunburned [and] dehydrated” when they were pulled from the water.

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Both Le and Nguyen were visibly emotional after meeting the crew that helped save their lives.

“I just remember him picking me up, pulling me out of the water, like ‘Wow. I made it,’ " Nguyen recalled.

“The minute we saw the back of the boat start taking on water, I knew right then and there; put on your life vest,” Le told theTodayhosts.

The trio of boaters also fashioned a raft out of two ice chests and a bandana, but still fought off both sharks and jellyfish while floating in the water.

One shark bit into Nguyen’s life vest, but he managed to fight off the animal.

“He wouldn’t go away so I jabbed him in the eyes,” Nguyen explained. “I put my thumbs in his eyes and he took off. I got a couple of scars.”

“In the middle of the night, I woke up with a jellyfish this big in my lap,” he recalled.

Keefe and Caraway said it was a great feeling to call the victims' families and inform them of their safe return to shore.

Stone said rescues like this are among the reasons he joined the Coast Guard.

“I love this branch because we’re able to do stuff like that,” he said. “And to be able to see [the survivors] alive and recovering, it’s awesome.”

source: people.com