Written by Jessica Graves
Just a few miles off of Shroud Cay in the Bahamas, Max White and his family “were enjoying the sunset, swimming, and jumping off the top of our catamaran,” he recalls of that fateful August day. Then, within an instant, he explains, everything changed. “My uncle fell off the flybridge and hit the swim deck—breaking both arms, a lot of ribs and (his) jaw, he lost a lot of teeth and was knocked unconscious. We radioed over the vhf to see if anyone could help.”
But with each passing minute Max’s uncle, Chris, was sinking quickly despite the family’s best efforts. “I jumped in and brought him back up and waded in the water while my brother and dad tried to figure out how to get him in the boat. It was a struggle for us because his arms, ribs and head were in bad shape. We had no idea what to do”, White remembers, “everyone on the boat was shook. We were about a 15-hour sail to a hospital.”
Just over eight-miles away, Freddy, a 106’ Sanlorenzo was moored near O’brien’s Cay, when their distress call was received by Captain Kelly J. Gordon. “I tried to communicate with the vessel, but they were just out of range,” Captain Gordon says, “I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me.” She and her crew sprung into action, “we grabbed our medical bag and AED and headed [over].”