Tears Flow Freely As Families Reunite With Missing Divers Found After Intense Search
August 16, 2023
It was an emotional scene after four divers, who were lost and missing in the Atlantic Ocean for more than 12 hours, were found, rescued and reunited with loved ones.
The earth and all its contents are a magnificent and wondrous formation designed by the ultimate Creator. One look at the beautiful, expansive and snow-covered mountain ranges will take your breath away. The vast oceans will leave you in awe, with your jaw dropped. But despite the beauty present in nature, it can often be a dangerous and unforgiving place.
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Unfortunately, this is something that four people – Ben Wiggins, 64, Daniel Williams, 46, Luke Lodge, 26, and Evan Williams, 16, - learned the hard way. The four went diving off the Carolina coast on Sunday, according to 13 News Now.
The scary situation started Sunday morning. The four, on a boat, headed out into the ocean, taking part in a recreational dive around 9 a.m. But when all four of them resurfaced about 45 minutes later, they knew they were in serious trouble, according to NBC News.
The ocean’s choppy current that morning had caused their boat to move nearly 300 yards away. Luckily, the outlet reports, all four divers were still able to get to one another.
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On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard launched a search and rescue effort for the four men, who had gone diving more than 60 miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 13 News Now reports. Crews searched from the air and sea for the four missing divers.
Then, early Monday morning, around 1 a.m., one of the crews spotted an "SOS strobe light," according to NPR. The four divers had been spotted and were rescued, brought to shore where they were reunited with their families.
All Four Called Out To God For Help and He Answered Their Pleas
One of the rescued divers, Ben Wiggins, who has “decades of specialized Navy diving experience,” remembers himself and his fellow divers calling out to God for help.
“It was a ‘Thank you, God’ because we were all calling out loud, ‘God, please help us,’” Ben told NBC News. “We, I said myself, ‘We need you now. We need you now.’”
The Lord answered those cries for help when he sent members of the search and rescue team their way.
The rescue of those four men was a work of God. One member of the U.S. Coast Guard said the odds of ever finding a raft that small in the ocean is next to zero.
“It’s almost like looking up for a watermelon in a ocean,” Carter Beck, U.S. Coast Guard, said.
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Ben mentioned that when he was reunited with his loved ones, he “broke down.” He also called his and fellow divers’ rescue what it was: “a miracle.”
“Have no fear, for I am with you: do not be looking about in trouble, for I am your God; I will give you strength, yes, I will be your helper: yes, my true right hand will be your support.” – Isaiah 41:10
WATCH: Four Divers Rescued After Being Lost, Stranded In Atlantic Ocean
LISTEN: South Carolina Police Officer Pulls Over Car for Running Red Light, Then Driver Mouths 'Help Me'
h/t: 13 News Now, NPR & YouTube.com/NBC News
Featured Image Credit: YouTube.com/NBC News
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for an Open Heart This Holiday Season - Your Daily Prayer - November 25
With so many traditions, travel, meals, and memories to be made, it can be easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed by what is ahead. However, God teaches us in Philippians not to worry about anything but to pray and share our petitions with Him with gratitude.
Today's Devotional
A Prayer for an Open Heart This Holiday Season - Your Daily Prayer - November 25
With so many traditions, travel, meals, and memories to be made, it can be easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed by what is ahead. However, God teaches us in Philippians not to worry about anything but to pray and share our petitions with Him with gratitude.
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