ROCKPORT, Texas — A man is safe after he was thrown from his boat near Rockport. The boat he was thrown from continued to do circles in the water at full speed, causing a dangerous situation for all involved, and it was all caught on video.
The Aransas Pass Police Department shared to Facebook that a call came in last week to their Harbor Safety and Enforcement Division about a runaway boat. They attached the YouTube video of the rescue.
"We share the Good Samaritan's YouTube video because the narrator illustrates some important points," the post by Aransas Pass Police Department said.
In the YouTube video from 30milesOut, two boaters can be seen coming up on a unmanned boat that is going in circles on the water. The men can then be seen pulling a man out of the water who said he was thrown out of the boat after reaching down to get a drink.
"Flew over there as fast as we could, trying to avoid the boat, and see this elderly gentleman in the water. He was just narrowly out of the reach of the spin of the boat, thank Jesus," said fishing guide Ty Southerland who took part in the rescue.
Southerland and his neighbor were on their way back to Con Brown Harbor after a day out on the water when they spotted the runaway boat.
The men called 911 and Southerland saw that the boat had come to a stop after hitting a sandbar. The men went to the boat and one jumped in and was able to shut down the engine before helping the man get it to a nearby dock.
The rescuers shared some safety tips about boating in the video, including never reaching down and taking your eyes off of where you are going and always having the emergency shut-off device attached to your person while driving.
It is Texas law to wear a kill-switch while boating. Kali's Law went into effect in 2019. The law is named after Kali Gorzell, a San Antonio native who was killed in a 2012 Aransas Pass boat accident when the boat she was on swapped ends.
The law requires boats that are less than 26 feet to have a kill switch, which stops a boat's motor automatically in the case of an emergency.
"It's a great rule because I don't think all states have that but they should because when you get thrown to the ground or thrown out, the last thing you want is the boat to continue on or start spinning or coming back at you," said Southerland.
Thankfully, no one was injured in this incident.
You can watch the video of the rescue in full below.
Warning: Graphic language
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