“A family of four is lucky to be alive after clinging on to their overturned boat before they were rescued in the Gulf of Mexico.
The family — consisting of two adults and their children, aged 11 and 8 — sent out a distress call on the radio Wednesday morning to report that their 20-foot vessel was taking on water off the coast of Venice, Louisiana, according to the Coast Guard.
An airplane was dispatched and rescuers from the air located the family, who the Coast Guard said in a news release were ‘holding onto the side of the overturned vessel,’ 17 miles south of the Southwest Pass.
A helicopter crew was able to lower a rescue swimmer until a Coast Guard boat arrived on scene.
A spokesperson for the Coast Guard told PEOPLE that all four family members were wearing life jackets when they were found.
‘The fact that they were able to call in on channel 16 using their radio and reported the situation and how many people were aboard greatly assisted the crews in the search,’ Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Plummer, search and rescue mission coordinator for the Coast Guard’s New Orleans sector, said in a statement.”
View the whole story here: https://people.com/human-interest/family-clinging-overturned-boat-rescued-gulf-of-mexico/