Man swims 5 1/2 hours to save family

Thought the folks here could use a story with a happy ending.

Man swims 5 1/2 hours to save family after boat capsizes

Rescuers pluck remaining four family members from Tangier Sound, Maryland, where storm swamped and overturned 16-foot skiff while they were fishing

July 11, 2013 by David Strege

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A man swam 5 1/2 hours in the darkness of Tangier Sound, Maryland, to summon help as four other family members, including two children, clung to the capsized fishing boat that had taken on too much water and overturned in stormy weather.
http://cdn.grindtv.com/wp-content/up...ard-boat-1.jpg Coast Guard boat from Smith Island, Maryland. Photo by Lee Cannon/Flickr

The 16-foot skiff toppled around 7 p.m. Tuesday night, and 30 minutes later, John Franklin Riggs, 46, set out for help, swimming at least three miles through stinging jellyfish and then climbing rocks along the shoreline to find the first house he could, according to the Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, and the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources Police.

At about 1 a.m. Wednesday in Chance, Maryland, located on the sound in Chesapeake Bay, Riggs knocked on the door of Angela Byrd.
“I’ve been swimming since sundown; I need help,” Riggs said, according to Byrd.

Byrd phoned 911 and the Deal Island fire chief. At around 3 a.m., eight hours after the boat capsized, a rescue helicopter hovered over the relieved family members, who were soon surrounded by members of the Mt. Vernon Volunteer Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.

“There were a few storms in the area, and the boat turned upside down,” Sgt. Brian Albert of Maryland Natural Resources Police told the Daily Times. “Mr. Riggs swam to shore. These people are very lucky. No one was injured.”

http://cdn.grindtv.com/wp-content/up...shing-map-.jpg Google Map outlines town of Chance, Maryland, where John Franklin Riggs summoned help. It is surrounded by Tangier Sound. Chesapeake Bay can be seen at the far left.

John Riggs, 70, organized the fishing trip and was among those who were rescued along with his daughter Contessa Riggs, his grandson Conrad Drake, 3, and his granddaughter Emily Horn, 9. John Franklin Riggs, the swimming rescuer, is John Riggs’ son.
The Carolina Skiff capsized three miles offshore near Shark Fin Shoal in Northern Tangier Sound, according to the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources Police. Once the boat began taking on water, the occupants put on life jackets and then hung on to the boat once it overturned. They were found near the mouth of the Wicomico River.

“I’ve never been so happy to see search boats in my life,” Contessa told the Daily Times. “It took him five hours to swim ashore. He had to stop and grab a crab pot buoy and rest, then swim.
“We clung to the side of the boat and got stung by sea nettles in the dark.”
The family wore life jackets and that is what saved their lives, Albert said.
Meanwhile, John Franklin Riggs was understandably being hailed a hero.
We will update when we hear from him.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/excur...boat-capsizes/