As a safety professional in the offshore industry, and an avid fisherman, this one steals my heart and is a prime example of why we should never leave the dock without our lifejackets on. Please take a minute to read and share this with others who enjoy the water.
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Man held onto faith, hope while waiting nearly 24 hours in water
09:22 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
mrodriguez@wwltv.com
MADISONVILLE, La. – It was a story that nearly ended in tragedy.
On Oct. 17, four people – including two children – headed out from Madisonville for a fishing trip on Lake Pontchartrain. Rough waves caused the boat to capsize. Nine hours later, rescuers found the two children and a 40-year-old man alive – but for 74-year-old Carl Shaffer, his ordeal was just beginning.
"It was nothing I had seen before the night was over," Shaffer said, during an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News. "Like a fish cork bobbing up and down out there."
After the boat capsized, Shaffer became separated from the rest of the boaters. Alone and cold, with a life vest tied around him, he floated in Lake Pontchartrain. He saw boats and planes out looking for him, but unable to see him.
"I heard them. They had their light right on me and everything, and they just go right on by," he said.
Around 2:30 a.m. the search was called off for the night. Shaffer said what he experienced next were literally the darkest hours of his life. He said, at one point, he noticed two dolphins swimming around him.
"Everyone said, 'Oh, you didn't see no dolphins in the lake.' And I said, 'Yes, I did.' They kept circling around me. And at first, I thought it was sharks and I said, 'Lord, looky here.'
“I hoped they weren't planning on having a fat boy for supper," he said.
Shaffer believes his faith, his will to live – and his life vest – kept him alive.
"I rode my unicycle all night long, just trying to stay warm, you know," he said. "Felt like I was freezing my butt off."
Eventually, the sun rose. It was a sight Shaffer said he wasn't sure he would see again. Then, later that morning, nearly 24 hours after the boat capsized, Shaffer spotted a St. Tammany Sheriff's boat in the water. He began waving his arms.
"I was sure glad to see them. I'll never say a bad thing about the Sheriff's Department again," he said with a laugh.
His first question to his rescuers: what happened to the other boaters?
They told him everyone was fine.
"That made me so happy," Shaffer said.
Shaffer's loved ones said his rescue, and that of everyone on the boat, was nothing short of miraculous.
"We didn't lose anything or anyone," said Christy Sheridan. "We don't know what we would've done if something had happened to Carlie. It really would've been devastating. Really devastating."
Yet, the surprising news didn't end with his rescue.
"I thought it was the last of miracles," Shaffer said. "But then, on the second or third day I was here [in the hospital], I got a phone call from a lady in Madisonville."
Turns out, a crab trapper had found something of Shaffer's that he thought he had lost for good: his pants.
Shaffer took them off during the ordeal because they were weighing him down. His wallet and keys were still inside: the last of his possessions rescued out of the lake, but not nearly as important as the rescued person they belong to.
"I've had a lot of things happen to me," Shaffer said.
Shaffer is still recovering at St. Tammany Parish Hospital. His family said they expect him to be released soon.
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