All day and all night, two divers were stranded in the ocean off the south-east Queensland coast with no life raft and only their twin air tanks and each other to cling to.
Daniel Fitzgerald, a 45-year-old technical diving instructor, and his student, 43-year-old Stu Fillman, left North Stradbroke Island in a group of four on Saturday morning for the Flat Rock dive site, kilometres north of Point Lookout.
But only two divers returned to the boat after strong currents pulled Fitzgerald and Fillman away from the site.
The pair drifted 25 kilometres from the boat.
A massive search and rescue operation began at 10.30am, about two hours after the divers entered the water.
It was called off overnight, leaving the pair to cling to their air tanks and rely on their dry suits to keep them warm.
Then, just before 7am on Sunday, an Australian Maritime Safety Authority Challenger aircraft jet spotted the men drifting about seven kilometres off Main Beach on the Gold Coast.
The aircraft dropped a life raft to the pair before Water Police and the Westpac Rescue helicopter arrived.
“Boy, are we glad to see you guys,” one of the drivers said as the Water Police boat reached them.
They were winched to safety almost 24 hours after entering the water, both relieved and in remarkably good condition.
“You could see the weight come off their shoulders and think, ‘Thank god you’re here’,” Westpac rescue crewman Alex Carroll told Nine News.
“Obviously my first question was, ‘How did you end up here?’”
Acting Sergeant Matt Boswell said it was a relief to find the two men safe.
“It’s a great outcome,” the officer in charge of the Dunwich police station said.
“Water conditions were pretty rough … and obviously, just being out in the ocean for so long, the exposure.”
Fitzgerald said he was spending time with his family at home after the dramatic rescue, while Fillman thanked those who saved them.
“Thank you … to our emergency services teams in aircraft, on the water, or on land for turning this into a happy ending,” he said told Nine News.
with AAP
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
