Cries for help in dark lead 3 teens to save boaters thrown into Florida river by crash
Three teens are being cheered as heroes after they threw down fishing poles and rushed to help boaters involved in a “horrific” crash on coastal Florida’s St. Lucie River.
It happened around 9:40 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Harbor Point area of Stuart, Florida, about 135 miles southeast of Orlando, according to investigators.
The teens were identified as Nash Kennedy, Riley Kirby and Jack Aubuchon, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Kennedy is 16, and Kirby and Aubuchon are 17, TCPalm.com reports.
“On any given night, the friends can be found honing their fishing skills moving about in the St. Lucie River on a small jon boat. That’s exactly where they were Friday night, as they witnessed a horrific vessel crash,” the Martin County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
“Six people aboard a vessel hit an unlit channel marker, ejecting three of the passengers. ... Nash Kennedy, Riley Kirby and Jack Aubuchon collectively had one response; to move towards the cries for help.”
The teens found the victims “in complete darkness,” and worked together to pull them from the water onto their boat.
“One victim was so severely injured, the friends wrapped him in their own clothing to stop the bleeding,” the sheriff’s office said.
“And (they) used their jon boat as an emergency transport vessel — moving the victims to shore where (Martin County Fire Rescue) awaited their arrival. Their actions saved the lives of all of the victims.”
State investigators report “the vessel collided with a channel marker and multiple passengers were ejected.” Among them was a 14-year-old boy who “was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”
The 14-year-old was thrown into a metal sign atop the channel marker, which sliced skin off a large section of his back, the sheriff’s office said. He remained hospitalized in serious condition, Friday, Oct. 14, but is expected to survive.
Kennedy told station WPTV they were fishing about 50 yards away when an adult and two teens were thrown from the boat.
“I don’t think I’m the one who saved his life, but I think if we weren’t there in time to get him out of the water in the condition they were in, I think the situation might have [been worse],” Kennedy told the station.
The three teens, who are juniors in high school, were honored by the sheriff’s office for their “courage, teamwork and commitment to service” during an Oct. 13 event at the Stuart Rod and Reel Club.
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Cries for help in dark lead 3 teens to save boaters thrown into Florida river by crash."