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Florida Boat Accident Survivor: 2 NFL Players Gave Up Hope
Fox News ^ | March 4, 2009

Posted on 03/04/2009 10:46:36 AM PST by Zakeet

As the Coast Guard ended its search for three missing football players whose boat tipped over in high Florida seas, the lone survivor said two of those lost gave up after hours in the frigid water and the third tried to swim to safety.

South Florida player Nick Schuyler told investigators that all four of the friends on a fishing excursion were initially wearing life vests and clinging to the 21-foot boat belonging to Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.

But two to four hours after the boat capsized, one of the NFL players removed his life jacket and let himself be swept out to sea, the St. Petersburg Times reported. A few hours later, the other one followed suit.

"We were told that Nick said the two NFL players took their life jackets off and drifted out to sea," said Bob Bleakley, whose son Will Bleakley, 25, is also still missing.

After Cooper, 26, and Corey Smith, 29, were carried away, Bleakley and Schuyler hung on until morning — but then Bleakley decided to swim to get help when he thought he saw a distant light, the paper said.

He, too, took his life vest off, 24-year-old Schuyler told the families.

"I think he was delusional to think he could swim someplace," the Times quoted Bob Bleakley as saying.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: accident; boat; florida; missing; nfl; rescue; schuyler; uscg
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To: rightinthemiddle

Hypothermia leads to bad decisions, happens to campers
too. Many instances of hikers taking off all their gear, packs, coats etc and wandering off the trail.

Remember, if you are shaking you are in the first stages of
hypothermia, If you feel cold...PUT SOMETHING ON!

Stay with the boat!


21 posted on 03/04/2009 10:58:08 AM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Zakeet

My husband and son spearfish in those waters and it’s cold right now (low 60’s.) Without a wetsuit, hypothermia probably set in quickly. These guys had no body fat either, they were athletes, I’d imagine low body fat could bring on hypothermia more quickly.


22 posted on 03/04/2009 10:58:46 AM PST by dawn53
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To: Zakeet

Man! It’s like they were drinking the sea water to go delusional that quick. Very sad.


23 posted on 03/04/2009 10:58:47 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.)
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To: oh8eleven

Really?? Its not bravado.... I’m just saying I would not give up until it killed me, not until it forcefully takes me, not because I take of the jacket.


24 posted on 03/04/2009 10:59:00 AM PST by Influence (War doesn't determine who's right or wrong. War determines who's left.)
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To: Influence
2 to 4 hours and they give up, no matter how cold it was I would have never given up.

I think it's pretty difficult for you to make that claim. Hypothermia and 6 hours floating in frigid water might make your thoughts not so clear.
25 posted on 03/04/2009 10:59:56 AM PST by mysterio
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To: Zakeet
Sad.

what!....No Emergency Beacon Transceivers (EBT)

"Socialism is great until you run out of someone elses money" Margaret Thatcher
There are two sets of rules. One set for the rulers and another for the rest of us. —Richard Yancey, former IRS tax collector

26 posted on 03/04/2009 11:00:49 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (just b/c you're paranoid, doesn't mean "they" aren't out to get you.. :^)
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To: mysterio

Well obviously one guy made it, he was determined so its not impossible. sheesh.


27 posted on 03/04/2009 11:00:53 AM PST by Influence (War doesn't determine who's right or wrong. War determines who's left.)
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To: BGHater

I’m agreeable on the body fat angle. A guy who is very lean....in cool water like this...probably will last half as long as a guy who is 300 pounds and very much overweight. The curious thing...this was not a big huge boat and its the size you’d expect in a lake or bay area...NOT on open sea. Several folks in my office commented on the idea of taking something this size out.


28 posted on 03/04/2009 11:01:01 AM PST by pepsionice
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To: PGR88

I think something like that happened to those guys who died up on Mount Hood in Oregon a while back. One of them (the injured one who was left behind while the others went for help) called someone on his cell phone and said his two companions went down the mountain to meet a friend who was coming to help them. There was no such “friend” coming for them.


29 posted on 03/04/2009 11:01:02 AM PST by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: Influence
Really?? Its not bravado.... I’m just saying I would not give up until it killed me, not until it forcefully takes me, not because I take of the jacket.

See my post # 10.

30 posted on 03/04/2009 11:01:08 AM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: tet68

First law of survival training. Stay at the crash sit or in this case “the boat”.


31 posted on 03/04/2009 11:02:01 AM PST by Old Retired Army Guy (tHE)
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To: petercooper
To be sure, the phenomenon of paradoxical undressing is an enigma counter to expected behavior.

I always thought this referred to the times I got lucky in college.

32 posted on 03/04/2009 11:02:27 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: ArrogantBustard

No doubt the rough seas that caused them to capsize did not cease the moment they went in the water either.


33 posted on 03/04/2009 11:02:49 AM PST by Petronski (For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden. -- Cdl. Stafford)
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To: posterchild
"Could thermal loss or ingestion of too much salt water cause delirium in such a short time?"

Yep, as a kid I got caught out in the cold and had decent clothes on for the weather but got wet when I fell through ice in a shallow creek and in just fours hours was loony toons. My friends got me to shelter and I was mumbling and ranting till they got me warmed up.

I was shivering so hard I was barely able to walk with help (Two guys on either side of me) after a few short minutes of being wet in Zero Degree weather.

34 posted on 03/04/2009 11:03:04 AM PST by Mad Dawgg ("`Eddies,' said Ford, `in the space-time continuum.' `Ah,' nodded Arthur, `is he? Is he?'")
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To: Zakeet

Very sad. Prayers for their families.

From the little I’ve read of people suffering hypothermia it causes delusional behavior.


35 posted on 03/04/2009 11:03:52 AM PST by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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To: buccaneer81

Ugh, the point is that someone made it! So its not impossible to say that I couldn’t make it just cause two guys gave up.

Obviously one guy was so determined to fight death he fought it off long enough to survive.

I don’t care if I was sick or not, Ive been through alot of pain myself, and as I said I would rather death take me and endure so without a doubt in my mind I could say I did everything I could.


36 posted on 03/04/2009 11:05:16 AM PST by Influence (War doesn't determine who's right or wrong. War determines who's left.)
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To: taxcontrol

The amount of panic would be overwhelming in this situation. Think about riding out 14 foot waves in a 21 foot boat when the boat is upright.

Flip the boat over and you feel completely helpless, you cannot right the boat, you cannot hang on, you are shivering cold, etc... They were constantly being slammed on the grooved hull...

The winds are blowing 30 or more...insane situation.

They would invariably be taking in salt water as they are taking an extreme relentless pounding. The salt water intake only adds to the delusion, add hypothermia and you have the perfect “storm” if you will for self-destruction.

It is a testament to the mental prowess of Schulyer - it is literally the only thing that saved him and his love for his family.

Sounds like Bleakly was a hero in this scenario...

The entire story is quite sad.


37 posted on 03/04/2009 11:05:37 AM PST by surfer
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To: posterchild

Hypothermia, ingesting salt water, and the stress of the situation does lead to loss of judgment, delirium and hallucinations which led to their giving up, or thinking that they might be able to swim to land, a boat, a light, etc. That description is typical for someone stranded in cold ocean waters for a long time; but less than 40 hours does seem a bit too short. I think they were just not mentally tough enough to get through it, but they could have if they stayed calm, stayed together and supported each other, and had their wits about them, knowing that a search and rescue would be sent for them.


38 posted on 03/04/2009 11:06:01 AM PST by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/)
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To: tet68
Stay with the boat!

Somewhere I believe I read that the survivor mentioned that they were anchored when a wave capsized the vessel. I would assume they were anchored even after the vessel went "bottom up". Get some rope, rig up something quick, hold on for DEAR LIFE.

39 posted on 03/04/2009 11:06:46 AM PST by OBXWanderer
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To: Old Retired Army Guy
sad story =(

The guy that survived was sitting atop the over-turned boat, hugging the motor. Being out of the water, he avoided most of the effects of hypothermia. That saved him for sure.

40 posted on 03/04/2009 11:06:52 AM PST by catbertz
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