This Couple Was Stuck in Open Water for 14 Hours

A couple who fell off their boat off the coast of Florida on Saturday were lucky to be rescued when a boat full of first responders on a fishing expedition happened to pass them. The Florida couple treaded water for 14 hours before they were found by rescuers who initially thought they were fish. The boat of fishermen included two Broward County, Florida sheriff's detectives and a firefighter. One, who declined to be named, told CNN they looked like fish at first.

We originally thought they were bait fish. We got up close and once we realized that they were in trouble, we brought them on board.

Sean McGovern, 50, and Mellisa Morris, 52, are not fish, but rather people who fell off their boat on Friday night at around 6 p.m. near Key Largo, according to CNN. Their boat kept going without them, leaving them alone in the open water, which is basically everybody's worst nightmare. McGovern and Morris, treading water, then drifted up the coast for miles before being spotted by the fishermen.

Local news station WSVN said the couple were near Hallandale Beach when they finally got picked up. Broward Sheriff's Office detective Josh Webb told the station that the couple probably wouldn't have lasted much longer.

Another 30 minutes to an hour, it probably wouldn't have the same outcome as it did today, because they were in pretty bad shape. They were both cramping pretty bad, they were both very dehydrated, very tired. They appeared mildly hypothermic.

Plus, another rescuer said, McGovern had several jellyfish stings. Morris couldn't move by the time they pulled her into the boat.

Steve Couch, another rescuer on-board the fishermen's boat, told WSVN that the rescue was so unlikely it seemed almost amazing.

Personally, I was surprised. I was amazed that they lasted that long in the water. I've just never seen something like that before."

All those coincidences made Webb feel like perhaps the fishermen's discovery of the two had to do with divine intervention.

Well, maybe God put us over there to save them, you know? Who knows why?

Though the couple was found, Newsday reports that the boat was not so lucky. The two were not wearing their life jackets when they fell into the ocean, which means this story will probably end up as fodder for every parent trying to convince their child to don a life jacket on a boat this summer.

We definitely will.

Screenshot: CNN