7-year-old Julian Hohnen was taking a fishing trip with his dad Maike Hohnen and family friend Stephen Jeacocke off the coast of Queensland when their boat started sinking. They were around 8 miles from the coast and couldn’t possibly get to the land. Before the boat sank completely, they were able to send a distress signal but were forced to spend more than 6 hours in the freezing water.
At the moment the accident took place, they were all asleep and didn’t have time to get to their safety equipment.
“They had the safety gear on board but unfortunately, sort of in the time that they realized the boat was taking on water to it actually sinking, was only a matter of less than a minute,” Kyle Banks with the Sunshine Coast water police told 7News.
The two men did everything in their power to keep the young boy afloat, hoping someone would come to their rescue before it was too late.
The rescue team found them the next morning and the three were immediately rushed to hospital.
They were diagnosed with hypothermia and sweet Julian had to be placed in an induced coma.
“It’s always a delicate operation when you’re winching a patient that’s potentially suffering from hypothermia,” Kristy MacAlister of the Queensland Ambulance Service told News.com.au. “As you winch them out of the water, the wind temperature can also decrease the body temperature further.”
Thankfully, his family never lost hope and on Monday, the boy opened his shiny eyes.
“It’s very fortunate that the three people were found when they were,” MacAlister said. “They had been in the water for several hours, and they’re all very lucky.”
Julian’s parents informed the public through a statement about the condition of their son, saying it was “downgraded from critical to stable.”
They somehow knew their boy would pull through because he has a fighting spirit and is one vibrant kid.
“I’m the luckiest man alive, I’ve got a beautiful son, who puts a smile on my face everyday!” Maike Hohnen wrote on Facebook.