7-Year-Old Boy Who Was in a Sinking Boat and Spent 6 Hours in Freezing Ocean Wakes From Coma

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.

Monica Pop
Monica Pop
Monica Pop is a senior writer for Bored Daddy magazine covering the latest trending and popular articles across the United States and around the world.

More from author

Related posts

Latest posts

Terrifying words teen said as he fell 120 feet in front of dad

Ryan Wach and his teenage son Zane, 14, were hiking Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountain range on June 10 when a tragedy...

Heartfelt video shows moment man abandoned as baby in plastic bag meets his birth family

It was back in September 1984 when three teenage girls found a baby wrapped in a blanket and placed in a plastic bag in...

The Night I Felt Like He Was Still With Me and How I Felt Close to Him Again for the First Time in Years

I wasn’t looking for anything that day. I had opened my inbox just to unsubscribe from random newsletters. Then I saw his name. It...

Canadian PM responds to Trump’s ‘blatant attack’ accusation

US President Donald Trump lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, accusing the country of a "blatant attack." The new potential feud between the...

Mom poses with her kids — one detail sparks a powerful body positivity realization

Recently at the beach with her family, Kirsten Bosly from Perth, Australia, wasn’t enjoying the fun with her loved ones—she felt incredibly uncomfortable in...

12-year-old girl dies of rare cancer—parents noticed worrying sign as she brushed teeth

As Beth Phelps, a 12-year-old girl, was getting ready for bed one night and was brushing her teeth, her parents noticed a "protruding lump" on...