NAHARIYA, Israel (12 Jan 2003) -- Two scuba divers were rescued some 10 kilometers off Nahariya Sunday afternoon after spending more than 30 hours in the sea. They survived with the help of their wetsuits and the constant hope of being rescued. The drama began on Saturday morning, when a group of divers headed in a small boat to a spot off Shavei Zion, near Nahariya, where a wreck had been placed as an underwater memorial to naval commandos killed in an operation in Lebanon. The boat, from a diving club based in Nahariya, tied up to the buoy marking the wreck, but was hit by a big wave that swamped it. A second big wave turned it over, flinging all aboard into the sea. Ten of the divers managed to cling to the overturned boat, but Yariv Schwitzer, 23, of Karmiel, and Eddie Yanko, 46, of Hadera, were swept out to sea. Another boat sent out from the diving club rescued the 10 and widespread searches were immediately initiated for the two missing men. Navy ships, including a Dvora patrol boat, as well as coastal police and fishing boats took part in the searches, while scores of police and volunteers scoured beaches in case they had managed to swim ashore. The searches continued until nightfall on Saturday and were resumed on Sunday morning with the aid of an Israel Navy helicopter. As hope was fading of finding the missing divers alive, the crew of a yacht, which had set out from Haifa, found one of them and shortly afterward the navy helicopter found the other. Members of the Flotilla 13 naval commandos then extricated the divers from the sea. They were brought back to the Nahariya marina and from there taken to Nahariya Government Hospital. The IDF Spokesman said Schwitzer was rescued at a point some 18 kilometers off the coast and Yanko some six kilometers from shore. Schwitzer and Yanko recounted the details of their ordeal to Israel Radio from their hospital beds. "The sea was not very good, but I went out with the new divers... As soon as we got to [the site of the sunken] ship, I saw the sea was really bad. The boat filled up with water and overturned," Yanko said. | | "The other guy [Schwitzer] tried to get equipment out of the boat. He didn't have swim fins, and I could see he was drifting away. I went to help him and we stayed together until about 9:30, when we drifted apart. "We had tried swimming toward the coast, but it was impossible against the east wind." After they were separated, Yanko said he kept himself from falling asleep by thinking about his family and his friend and constantly told himself that "everything will be okay." "I continued swimming. I was hungry because I hadn't eaten since I left home in Hadera at 6:30 a.m. and, of course, I was very thirsty." Yanko said he saw one of the coastal police vessels on Saturday evening and tried to signal it. On Sunday morning, the helicopter flew nearby without spotting him. "There was a time when I thought it was all over, but I didn't give up and I said I would try as much as it was in my power. There was also a period when it was cold, and I started doing various exercises with my arms and legs and I did my utmost not to sleep." Then he was spotted by the helicopter, which circled him, and a short while later commando speedboats were cutting through the waves toward him. Yanko said it was a moment of exhilaration. He said he would not give up the sea, but would probably stop diving, at least in the near future. Schwitzer said he had stayed alive after being separated from Yanko by thinking of his girlfriend, his family, and the cakes at his cousin's store. "We were saved by our wetsuits, but it was mainly thoughts in my head that kept me going. "I thought about what they would say to my family, to my girlfriend, that we might not have survived for so long, and I thought about by cousin's cake shop... I knew that if I survived I would get a good cake." SOURCE - jPost |
