I don't know where the thread that broke this story is. Nobody likely read it anyway, since I didn't post it. But here's the full story. This is a tough dude.
Ex-Dolphins player tells terrifying story of nine-mile swim to shore after falling off boat
The Washington Post
Washington Post - Washington Post
The Washington Post
2 hrs ago
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The bare essentials of the story of Rob Konrad’s 16-hour survival last week in the Atlantic waters off Miami were arresting enough, but on Monday the former NFL player shared terrifying details, saying, “I shouldn’t be here.â€
Konrad, a former Miami Dolphins fullback, fell off his recreational boat while he was nine miles offshore. Twice, rescuers failed to see him while he battled jellyfish and a circling shark before washing up on shore. “I’m grateful and thankful to be here,†he said (via ESPN) during a news conference, with his wife Tammy by his side. Konrad was emotional and still bore physical signs of an ordeal that led to his hospitalization until Sunday.
Last Thursday, just an ordinary day, he had hopped on his boat to take it for servicing. Konrad, who put the boat on autopilot, had just cast a line at around 12:30 when a fish hit the line and the boat was struck by a big wave. Konrad quickly went overboard.
“At that point in time, after panicking, I realized I was in real trouble,’’ he said. “I was miles out, the boat was on autopilot heading east to the Bahamas, I didn’t have time to get out an SOS call. I knew I was in trouble.â€
Konrad, 38, grew up in New England and was experienced on the water. He knew he had just a few hours before hypothermia set in. He began to swim, thinking of his wife and 8- and 10-year-old daughters.
“In the next 16 hours, I really had two opportunities for rescue,’’ he said. “At one point, as I swam into the night , there was a fishing boat, a recreational fishing boat, about 50 yards away. I tried to flag down the boat. It didn’t work out. A little bit later on, I saw the Coast Guard [helicopter]. They were out, searching the water. At that point in time, [they] came right over the top of me. They had lights on me, kept going. That was a difficult time.
“I realized at that point I was on my own.â€
Eventually, he washed up ashore, 27 miles from the point at which he had gone into the water, at around 4:30 a.m. Friday.
“After some time I just said, ‘Look, I’m not dying tonight, I’m going to make it to shore ,’†he said. “It certainly tests your mind when you’re in the water that long.â€
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