Video captured the heart-stopping rescue of a father and son who became stranded in the Florida Everglades in Collier County.
The men were in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which includes 728,000 acres stretched across multiple counties, when their ATV ran out of gas.
In the footage shared by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, one of the men tells a 911 dispatcher: “Sir, we are stranded in the Everglades. My four-wheeler ran out of gas, we got stuck in a mudhole, so now we’re just here stranded pretty far and almost out of water, with my son.”
Authorities said their shoes were swallowed up in thick muck, and the sheriff’s office deployed its aviation bureau, which used their coordinates and the fire they started to track them down.
Video shows their heat signatures showing up on a camera when they were finally found. But the only way out of the woods was up.
The rescue continued with North Collier Fire and Rescue, when first responders hoisted the men to safety. The footage shows one of the men making it into the helicopter with the rescuer. The man makes the sign of the cross and appears to thank one of the rescuers in celebration.
No one was injured, and authorities said the fire, which the men had started to keep them warm because they were soaking wet, was extinguished upon their rescue.
“This is another example of CCSOโs great training put into practice and the success that comes from seamless partnerships,” the sheriff’s office said.
WTVJ-TV NBC 6 Miami
