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A heroic boat captain braves a powerful Florida squall to save the two children of a parasailer who died when she and her kids crashed into an abandoned bridge.
The 33-year-old mother who has not been named, and her two sons, aged 7 and 10, were all parasailing in the Florida Keys at around 5pm on Monday when a sudden storm propelled them into Old Seven-Mile Bridge in Marathon. The cable tethering the woman and her sons to a boat snapped as it hit the bridge, and the trio fell into the water, the Miami Herald reports.
One of the first on the scene was Capt. John Callion who had been manning a fishing charter boat with two passengers on board nearby.
‘At around 5.30pm, I noticed a parasail boat parasailing into a storm,’ he wrote on Facebook, explaining: ‘It went from flat conditions to blowing 30mph in a matter of seconds.
‘I knew right away the outcome was going to be bad,’ he said. ‘Sure enough, the line connected to the parasail broke.’
‘At first, and from a distance, the bridge seemed to be a saving grace to stop the parasail from traveling any further.
‘Unfortunately, the victims made contact with the wing wall section of the bridge, and it was at a high rate of sped.’
He told the Herald that he did not see the mom and kids hit the bridge, because he immediately raced after them as soon as he saw them fall into the water.
Callion and the crew on board his boat tried to provide CPR to the woman and the 7-year-old boy before he rushed them over to a local restaurant, where EMS crews took charge
A mother and her two sons crashed into an abandoned bridge while parasailing in Key West on Monday at around 5pm
Capt. John Callion raced his boat over to the scene, to rescue the woman and two boys, ages 7 and 10, from the water
Callion then found the mother and her seven-year-old son unconscious in the water. The seven-year-old, the Herald reports, was still wrapped in the parasails harness, while the 10-year-old was battered but unconscious.
Callion and his crew then cut the harness from the chute, which was hanging from the decommissioned bridge, and he and his passengers began CPR on the child and his mother – but soon realized the woman had no pulse.
Fortunately, Monroe County sheriff’s deputies were on the bridge for another incident – and witnessed Callion get the victims into his boat.
They then reportedly yelled down from the bridge to get the woman and her sons to the Sunset Grill, an oceanfront restaurant located at the base of the bridge.
Once they arrived, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer began chest compressions on the woman aboard Callion’s boat, Sgt. Deborah Johnson of the Keys sheriff’s office said in her incident report.
She then hopped on board the boat to assist the officers with CPR, but once paramedics arrived on the scene, the Miami Herald reports, she turned her attention to the seven-year-old boy, who she said was going in and out of consciousness.
Callion described the harrowing experience in a Facebook post, explaining that the weather suddenly turned for the worse and the line connected to the parasail broke
The tragic crash occurred at the Old Seven Mile Bridge (left), which was decommissioned in the 1980s when the new Seven Mile Bridge opened (right)
He had injuries to his left eye, arms, legs and torso, according to Johnson, who said she ‘laid on my stomach and tried to have [him] look me in the eye to keep him awake.’
Eventually, she said, the paramedics stopped their life-saving efforts on the woman and focused on the boy.
The mother, from Schaumburg, Illinois, died at the scene.
They were then transported to a local hospital – but doctors there said the 7-year-old boy should be flown to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital near South Miami. It is unclear how he is doing.
Unfortunately, thunder storms continued in the region, and the helicopter was not able to take off until around 10pm. It arrived at the hospital shortly after 10.30pm.
Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports, the woman’s husband and other relatives made their way to the restaurant to see the woman.
‘I explained to him, best I could, nobody could go in or around her until the Medical Examiner gave authorization,’ Johnson said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is now investigating the crash, and a staff member with the parasailing company, Lighthouse Parasail of Marathon, told NBC 6 Miami they would cooperate with the investigations.
The Old Seven-Mile Bridge which they hit connects Knights Key in the Middle Keys city of Marathon with Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys and was decommissioned in the 1980s.
Callion, meanwhile, wrote in his Facebook post: ‘My heart and prayers go out to the victims. I truly did all I could do.
‘Never take life for granted,’ he concluded. ‘Things can change in a second.’
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