Diver stranded at sea 30 miles off shore recorded his 'final moments'
Diver stranded at sea 30 miles off shore recorded his 'final moments'
A scuba diver who became stranded 30 miles out at sea after getting separated from his group captured what he thought were his final moments on camera.
Jacob Childs was out with a group of divers off the coast of south-east Queensland, Australia, back in 2016 when he got into a bit of trouble.
As he rose out of the water, the 30-year-old lost sight of the safety rope and could see the boat moving away.
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Despite his best efforts to keep up with the trawler, it eventually moved out of sight, and he was left all alone for six hours.
With the sun quickly setting, Jacob didn't believe the rescue team would be able to find him in the dark, and decided to capture what he feared were his final moments.
In the video, he says: "So that's it. The sun goes down they won't do nothing. That's a wrap on old Jakey."
In a follow-up, the diver said he got into trouble when he surfaced and found that the rope had been pulled in.
And to make matters worse, rather than coming back to get him, the captain drove off.
Jacob told ABC News at the time: "We took a while to anchor up ... which left us [with] several people in different states of readiness. I was one of the first to hop in [to the water].
"It was then 15 minutes before the last people hopped in ... in which time we were fighting the current the whole way.
"Then we started to descend down the line. One person was up the top, so I went to swap hands and I missed the rope ... so I surfaced alongside to the boat.
"There was no tagline out the back for me to grab on to ... by the time the skipper had thrown it out I was already past it."
He told the Express: "It's a long time to spend by yourself, and it's a long swim back to shore.
"There's nothing to judge where you are. All the waves look the same and there's no land to try and gage yourself against.
"I think they picked me up eight miles from where we were diving."
Fortunately, a huge rescue operation got underway to track him down and bring him to shore.
And at about 5.30pm, a plane spotted him bobbing along in the water.
Jacob said: "I was nice and warm in my wetsuit ... I wasn't overly tired as I was floating.
"I just wanted a drink of water and a cup of tea."
The officer in charge of the rescue mission, Sergeant Rob Jorna, said Jacob's experience as a diver and an instructor made it possible for the team to find him.
Sergeant Jorna said: "He knew what to do, and his level headedness at the time, and he didn't panic and he did all the right things, and activated his safety equipment which alerted the air observer."
Topics: Australia, World News, Social Media
Dominic Smithers