Coast Guard swimmer, 24, says he fought waves and darkness to rescue 16 people from Pacific Ocean
By
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he → say → Ocean
Strapped into a harness, Josh Law was lowered from a US Coast Guard helicopter into the rough Pacific Ocean in the pitch black night, far off the Mexican coast.
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Law → strap → coast
The force of the helicopter blades pummeled the water, whipping up spray and turbulence.
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force → pummel → spray
The Coast Guard rescue swimmer couldn’t hear anything over the noise or see anything in the darkness.
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swimmer → hear → darkness
Waves of 6 to 8 feet hit him.
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Waves → hit → him
All he could do was follow the searchlight from the helicopter with the hope it would lead him to the more than two dozen people flung into the cold waters some 140 miles off the coast of Mexico’s Baja peninsula.
uncertain
it → do → peninsula
He would personally rescue 16 of them.
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He → rescue → them
“I was experiencing exhaustion at that point,” Law, 24, told The Associated Press in his first interview since the rescue.
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Law → experience → rescue
But what I was experiencing was nothing compared to what they were at that point …
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they → experience → point
I just had to keep that in mind.”
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I → have → mind
Over the next two hours in the predawn hours of Oct. 16, Law was the sole person in the water who would get the people whose boat had capsized to safety.
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boat → get → safety
Eleven others were never found.
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others → find → ?
The Coast Guard called off its search late Sunday.
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Guard → call → search
Law described the dramatic operation to save lives along a remote route frequented by migrant smuggling boats.
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Law → describe → boats
What the boat was doing out there and where it originated from are part of a federal investigation.
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it → do → investigation
It was unclear if the vessel got lost, had engine failure, was swept out to sea or meant to go that far.
uncertain
vessel → lose → sea
Only pieces of the boat were found.
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pieces → find → boat
All who were rescued are Mexican, the Mexican consulate said.
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consulate → rescue → ?
The Coast Guard said US Customs and Border Protection was investigating and interviewing the survivors, but the agency did not respond to multiple inquiries on whether the vessel was a migrant smuggling boat.
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vessel → say → boat
The alarm sounded, awakening the Coast Guard crew
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alarm → sound → crew
The mayday call came in around 1 a.m.
Someone said their boat was sinking in the middle of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico.
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boat → come → Ensenada
Within minutes, the alarm sounded at the US Coast Guard Air Station in Ventura, northwest of Los Angeles, rousing Law and his colleagues from their sleep.
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alarm → sound → sleep
Helicopter pilot Lt. Miyako Miller checked flying conditions and planned the flight route that would take the crew of four over the vast ocean south of the US border.
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that → check → border
Law prepared his dry suit, fins and medical items, then put on a harness that would be hooked onto a cable to lower him down from the aircraft into the ocean.
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that → prepare → ocean
By 2 a.m., they were taking off from the Coast Guard station in Ventura.
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they → take → Ventura
Pilot says she was guided by the stars
Miller wore night vision goggles to help her fly in the dark.
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her → say → dark
She said she relied on the stars, with no moonlight that night.
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she → say → moonlight
As the crew approached the reported location of the sinking, Miller spotted a tiny flicker of light in the distance.
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Miller → approach → distance
Then she spotted what looked like debris floating in the water, but it was difficult to distinguish what it was.
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it → spot → water
Miller carefully navigated the helicopter over the area, lowering the aircraft until it was hovering about 40 feet above the water.
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it → navigate → water
“I’m doing my best to maintain my references externally by looking outside through the night vision goggles,” Miller said, adding that meanwhile “the flight mechanic is telling me where to position the helicopter.”
Some 250 miles southwest of Ensenada, Mexico, is Guadalupe Island, a biosphere reserve that is well known as a place brimming with great white sharks.
Law said he didn’t think about what was in the water as he hooked himself to a cable and zipped into the ocean, strapped in a harness.
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he → do → harness
While Law’s dry suit provided some warmth, he knew the others had already spent hours in hypothermic temperature waters.
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others → provide → waters
Law said he was guided by a searchlight from the crew, which allowed him to catch a glimpse of the people in the water.
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him → say → water
They were scattered across a wide area.
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They → scatter → area
Some were wearing life vests that had tiny lights that produced the flicker first spotted by Miller.
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that → wear → Miller
Others clung onto one another, buoys and pieces of wreckage, shivering and treading water to stay afloat.
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Others → cling → water
Law said he swam to them, flipped them on their backs, put his arm over them and pulled them up using the “buddy tow” technique.
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he → say → technique
Kicking his legs to swim, he carried them to the spot where he could signal the flight mechanic to lower a basket for them to be picked up.
uncertain
them → kick → basket
“With one hand, I’m holding the survivor.
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I → hold → survivor
With the other, I am signaling to the helicopter and working with the device,” he said.
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he → signal → device
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
