It is a "miracle" that a pair of charter boaters survived following a St Lucia boat sinking, tourism officials say
A brother and sister, Dan and Kate Suski, are lucky to be alive after the boat they chartered for a fishing expedition in St Lucia started taking on water, leading the crew to abandon ship.
Following the ship’s sinking on 21 April, the US pair became separated from the crew and swam towards shore for almost 14 hours before they were able to pull themselves up on to an island. They were eventually rescued 23 hours after the boat sank. The boat crew were found shortly afterwards.
Talking to the Associated Press about the moments after the sinking, Kate Suski said, “The captain was telling us to stay together, and that help was on its way and that we needed to wait.”
The siblings waited for about an hour before deciding to swim towards shore through shark-infested waters.
Kate said, “There’s this very real understanding that the situation is dire,” said Kate. “You come face to face with understanding your own mortality.”
St Lucia’s tourism minister, Lorne Theophilus, agreed that their survival was a “miracle”. Investigations are underway as to what caused the sinking.
Photo: Dan and Kate Suski photographed in 2009 – credit Dan Suski/PA Pics
