2:47 AM Tue, Mar 17, 2009 | Permalink
By Sheila Lennon  Email this author | Email this entry |
I've updated the original post about the March 2 rescue of Nick Schuyler with the full Coast Guard report provided to The Associated Press Monday under a Freedom of Information Act request. (pdf) The survivor statement is on Page 21.
Tampa Bay Online offers this summary (Boaters Held On In Cold Water):
...(Nick) Schuyler was onboard the boat with Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent NFL defensive lineman Corey Smith and former University of South Florida football player Will Bleakley. Schuyler, himself a former USF player, was found nearly two days later and 35 miles off Clearwater, clinging to the boat's overturned hull.
The report details two conversations Coast Guard officials had with Schuyler shortly after he was rescued March 2. According to the report, this is what Schuyler told the Coast Guard:
After the men held on for several hours, hypothermia seemed to be affecting them. One "freaked out," took off his life vest and disappeared. Later, another man "started getting unruly." He fought with the other men and threw punches before he took off his life vest, dove under the waves and disappeared.
Early Sunday morning, the third fisherman thought he saw land and decided to swim toward it. He, too, removed the life vest, saying it was "too tight," and swam away from the boat.
More links are inside the story.
AP adds (NFL players may have died hours after boat toppled),
Officials have said they found three life jackets: one on Schuyler, another near the boat and a third underneath.
It's unclear how accurate the account is. Schuyler, who was found clinging to the overturned boat about 35 miles off Clearwater and nearly 48 hours after the accident, was suffering from hypothermia and he has provided different accounts to the men's relatives. For example, Bleakley's family said Schuyler told them that their son held on to the boat with his college teammate until he weakened and died. Schuyler has also said that Bleakley helped him survive by talking to him and encouraging him during their last night together.
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I created an online memorial for Corey. Please visit and leave a message, light a candle, etc. Thanks
http://www.ilasting.com/coreysmith.php
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