Teen kayaker rescued after spending 12 hours treading water and clinging to his kayak

A 17-year-old kayaker spent nearly 12 hours treading water and clinging to his kayak Wednesday after becoming separated from his high school paddling group, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The U.S. Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific, working with the Honolulu Fire Department and other agencies, rescued the teen Thursday morning. He was separated from the group around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard said in a statement on Facebook.

The teen became stranded one-half mile south of Sheraton Waikiki Beach Resort in Honolulu. He had reportedly capsized on a 20-foot surf ski and was not wearing a life jacket, a news release states.

Lt. Cmdr. Nic Iannarone, the chief of enforcement at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, said he was glad they were able to deliver good news to the boy’s family.

“It was such a pleasure to be able to call his mom as she’s crying on the phone and say, ‘Hey, we’ve found him and he’s OK,'” Iannarone said at a news conference.

Sector Honolulu watchstanders issued an urgent maritime information broadcast, launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and HC-130 Hercules airplane crews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, and launched a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu to search for the teen, the release says.

The airplane crew spotted the boy around 4 a.m. Thursday and directed a nearby good Samaritan boater to the location. The good Samaritan, an off-duty lifeguard, rescued the teen from the water.

Video released by the Coast Guard showed the moment boaters pulled the boy from the water.

The off-duty lifeguard said he jumped into action after his wife texted him and said that the missing kayaker was their friend’s son.

“I was like, ‘Oh I gotta go.’ I used one of our boats. … And we went out and I did about a hundred-mile search,” he said at the news conference. “We were able to find the boy and when I approached him, I saw the kayak, I saw his head above water. I was so stoked to see that he was alive. I remember asking, ‘Are you OK?’ And he was like, ‘Yes.’ … Got him on the boat and then I just threw all my blankets, towels, everything on him and drove him to shore.”

The teen, who has not been named, was in serious but stable condition, the Coast Guard said.