A fishing boat captain from Taitung’s Chenggong Township (成功) who responded to a report about a person who had been swept out to sea yesterday wound up rescuing his own son.
Taitung emergency services at about noon received a report about a man who had been washed out to sea by a strong current while snorkeling near Siaoma Village (小馬).
The captain, surnamed Kao (高), said he heard an emergency transmission on Fishery Radio Station asking nearby vessels to assist in the search.
Photo: CNA
Because he is “very familiar” with the spot where the person went missing, Kao said he sailed there to see if he could lend a hand.
As he approached the area, he received a call from his daughter telling him that the missing person was his son.
Shortly afterward, he saw someone floating in the water, waving to get his attention.
It was only after rushing to pull the man onboard that he fully realized “it really was my son,” Kao said.
Kao’s son told him he had been snorkeling with a friend when a rip current had pulled him out to sea.
Because his son is a strong swimmer, he was not overly concerned about being in the water so far from shore, Kao said.
It was only when he saw a crowd on the shore, some with inflatable rafts, that he began to worry that “something might be wrong,” he told reporters.
His friend had swum back to shore and called for help when he was unable to locate his partner, Kao said.
The son described the experience as “a bit of a misunderstanding,” Kao told reporters.
He said that his son often spends four hours at sea on snorkeling expeditions and his friend had been a bit premature in calling in the authorities.
Asked how they reacted upon seeing each other after the emergency call, the father said they had reassured each other by saying: “It’s fine, it’s fine.”
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