Florida fisherman miraculously rescued after night adrift clinging to ice box in Hurricane Milton’s aftermath

A dramatic video captured the rescue of a fisherman found clinging to an ice box nearly 30 miles off the Florida coast after his boat was stranded overnight in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. The man, whose name hasn’t been released, was saved by a US Coast Guard helicopter crew on Thursday. He had been drifting through 25-foot waves and 75-90 mph winds, conditions driven by the hurricane, reports the New York Post.

Coast Guard official Dana Grady described the survival as miraculous, saying, “This man survived a nightmare scenario for even the most seasoned mariner.” Grady explained that the man’s survival came down to his life jacket, an emergency position indicating beacon, and the cooler he clung to in the Gulf of Mexico.

Radioed for help

The man’s ordeal began Monday, when his fishing boat became disabled off Madeira Beach, Florida. A Coast Guard crew had rescued him and another crew member, but he later returned to the vessel in an attempt to repair a rudder issue—just hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall. He radioed for help again, but contact was lost at around 6:45 p.m. as conditions worsened.

After an intense search, rescue crews located the man on Thursday, about 30 miles off Longboat Key. Astonishing aerial footage showed him bobbing on the cooler as a Coast Guard diver was lowered to retrieve him. The fisherman was then taken to Tampa General Hospital for medical treatment. His boat’s fate remains unclear.