A young freediver who found himself lost at sea for more than four hours last week has opened up about his harrowing ordeal – and miraculous rescue – in an emotional interview with Today.
Sitting next to his mother, who helped rescue him, 21-year-old diver and spearfisherman Dylan Gartenmayer gave his heartbreaking account of the frightening experience, describing how he lost hope while waiting to be found , as the sun went down .
The incident occurred just under a week ago several miles off the Florida Keys and eventually culminated in the diver’s rescue thanks to his quick-thinking family, who launched their own search party when they learned of his plight.
While spearfishing without an oxygen tank — as is common in freediving — Gartenmayer was stranded at sea last Thursday after the strong currents of the Gulf Stream caught him and dragged him into deeper waters than he intended.
Separated from his friends — and just hours before sunset — Gartenmayer, a Floridian native who grew up spearfishing in the Keys, described surfacing out of breath to his friends’ boat, almost out of sight, in scary, unfamiliar territory.
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Diver and spearfisherman Dylan Gartenmayer, 21, sat side by side with his mother Tabitha as he delivered his heartbreaking account of the frightening experience that occurred just under a week ago a few miles off the Florida Keys
Family members, including the veteran swimmer’s mother, launched a search, during which he was discovered more than four hours later, clinging to two buoys he had just tied into a makeshift raft as the sun went down
“I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak,” Gartenmayer told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, appearing surprisingly unfazed after the near-death experience.
“I was just being pulled further and further and could watch the boat getting smaller,” said Gartenmayer. “It was like, okay, this is definitely getting serious.”
When his distant friends disappeared and were forced to tread water, the experienced diver quickly realized the seriousness of the situation and swam to a nearby reef, where he cut mooring buoys free to form a makeshift raft.
Gartenmayer knew his best chance of being rescued was to wait for the rescue and managed to stay afloat as best he could as the hours went on, but knew his chances were slim — as the The sun was setting quickly and twilight was falling over the Gulf.
When his friends disappeared in the distance, he had to step on the spot. The experienced diver quickly realized the gravity of the situation and managed to survive until he was discovered
“Watching that sunset was a bit like my heart sinking,” said the veteran swimmer, describing his declining hope. “I figured it was going to be a long night out here.”
As temperatures began to drop, Gartenmayer said it was thanks to the buoys that he was able to get up as high as possible.
‘That [was] the idea with the buoys,” said Gartenmayer. “I try to get up as high as possible, get a little warmth and less of my body in the water for potential predators.”
During this phase of the interview, the 21-year-old’s mother, Tabitha – who was part of the family-led search party that eventually found Gartenmayer – seemed troubled by her son’s account of his plight.
When asked what it was like when Tabitha and other family members took him to safety on the boat and were warmly hugged by his mother, Gartenmayer replied: “The greatest forever.”
Also a spearfisherman, she shared the horror she felt when she received the fateful phone call that informed her of his disappearance and spurred her and other family members to take their own boat out into the Florida surf at nightfall .
It was thanks to her courage and quick wits, Gartenmayer said – and not to the Coast Guard officers and helicopters who were called in to help with the search – that he was eventually rescued.
“The worst call I’ve had in my life,” Tabitha Gartenmayer said of the moment she found out her son was lost. “I worry every time he goes out because sometimes he pushes his limits,” she added, her face drawn with concern. “Sometimes he dives at night and goes 100 feet deep. So that’s what scares you.’
She said she got the call from Gartenmayer’s father, her ex-husband, after her son had been missing for an hour.
“The way he sounded literally took my breath away. I couldn’t even breathe,” the mother said. “Like everything just went away. I just stood there and was stuck.
“You repeat that every time you have that feeling. So I gave the phone to my girlfriend and she literally couldn’t speak. I was just, like, stuck.’
She added that up to that point, she was unaware that her son was “floating alone on the ocean for hours.”
Angry at being left in the dark and desperate to find her child, she and other family members traveled to her father’s house, where the diver’s grandfather, also a fisherman, had already prepared a boat.
“They are already on the boat. It literally took the family together in seconds,” Tabitha said proudly. “This is our baby. this is our baby And you do. So are we. We will always be there to protect our family.”
With Gartenmayer still treading water, the group boarded the boat and cruised 58 miles “non-stop” for more than an hour.
They soon located Gartenmayer’s location, and the lost diver said he quickly recognized the hum of his grandfather’s boat before being treated to the glorious sight of its prow.
The moment he was seen was captured on video and showed family members and friends cheering as Gartenmayer paddled his speargun to their boat
“Yes, growing up, seeing this console and hearing the hum of the engines, oh, that’s my grandfather’s boat,” said the diver.
“It’s a miracle,” his mother added, breaking down in tears at several points during the emotional sitdown. “I wanted to jump in and get him.”
“Yeah, I still think that’s definitely a miracle,” agreed an embarrassed Gartenmayer.
When asked what it was like when Tabitha and other family members took him to safety on the boat and were warmly hugged by his mother, Gartenmayer replied: “The greatest forever.”
It was thanks to the quick thinking of his mother and other family members, Gartenmayer said — not the litany of Coast Guard officers or helicopters called to help with the search — that he was eventually saved.
Despite the close fall, the diver said he will continue to do what he loves and will not be put off by the incident.
However, his mother was more skeptical, but ultimately supported her son’s decision.
“He’s a grown man. It’s his passion. That’s what he loves to do,” Tabitha said, saying she’s just happy to be reunited with her son. “As long as he’s doing what he loves to do, but he’s safer and going with people who make sure he’s around the boat and looking out for him, you know, because that’s very important. You go with experienced divers. You know, this is a big deal to me. And that’s a big deal.’
“I fished with him in my belly,” she added. “I know he was born for it.”