Five scuba divers struggling in the water off the coast of Hawaii for hours were rescued last Wednesday by a sailing couple who heard their cries for help and found “five little dots” in the vast ocean.
Camilla Storchi and her husband were traveling from Kaneohe to Honolulu on their boat when they heard desperate cries coming from the water, she told local station Hawaii News Now.
During the excursion the scuba divers became separated from their boat, forcing the group to hang on to each other to survive.
“We were going through Hanauma and going around the China Walls,” Storchi told the local outlet. “He heard cries for help and he started scanning the ocean and we saw five little dots.”
he said in a instagram post The pair ran to the group where one of the divers was “gray, hypothermic, vomiting.”
But the couple could not bring all five people on board to safety, so they immediately alerted the Coast Guard and circled them for 45 minutes before rescuers arrived.
Storchi said on social media that she and her husband were “talking, giving water and keeping them in good spirits.”
She posted a video of the dramatic discovery showing five people in their scuba gear wading out into the waves.
When the Coast Guard helicopter arrived, the boat appeared at the same time, along with five scuba divers.
“The helicopter arrived at the scene and relayed the situation to the (dive boat), which arrived at the location and picked up the divers,” the Coast Guard said in a statement to HNN.
The Coast Guard said the boat had “lost” the five divers, but heard over the radio that they had been located by the boat.
Dive company Aaron’s Dive Shop told the station it is reviewing what happened and protocols to prevent another tragedy.
