MATAGORDA, Texas – A couple from Oklahoma survived two nights and nearly two days bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico last week.
Kim and Nathan Maker were part of a group scuba diving old offshore oil platforms roughly 15 miles off the coast of Matagorda.
On Wednesday, while trying to help another diver get back to a rope they could hold on to, Nathan was whisked away by the current.
His wife tried to reach out and grab his hand while he fought the current.
An Oklahoma couple spent 36 hours bobbing in the Gulf of Mexico, fighting for their life.
— Gage Goulding - KPRC 2 (@GageGoulding) August 2, 2024
This is the moment right before the two were swept away by strong currents while scuba diving off the coast of Matagorda, Texas last week.
Hear their story of survival on @KPRC2 at 6:30 pm pic.twitter.com/oGXdLIzrLY
“Kim reached out for me, and we were about a foot apart,” Nathan told KPRC 2′s Gage Goulding. “Our hands were almost there, and somebody inadvertently knocked her off the line.”
The two spent 36 hours at sea before being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.
This wasn’t their first rodeo. Kim and Nathan found their love for scuba diving while celebrating their love on their honeymoon.
I was just really fell in love and was like, we’ve got to learn to scuba dive,” Kim said.
“Soon as we went underwater like that, we’re hooked,” added Nathan.
Over the last nine years, they’ve done roughly 500 dives.
This time they were diving in high seas with strong currents.
“As we were going down the down line, a group that had gone in before us lost a weight pocket,” Nathan explained.
That person is Lisa Shearin. She was wearing a GoPro camera recording the entire situation.
Her dive was done without the weight, so she turned around on the dive line, which is a rope they can secure themselves to, and headed back to the boat.
While doing that, she had to let go of the line to get around other divers heading down.
“I was like a salmon swimming upstream,” Shearin said. “I swam with everything that I had to get back to that dive line. I was not able to.”
That’s when the current pushed her away. But lucky for her, Nathan was there to help her get back to the line.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get himself back.
That’s when his wife, Kim, reached out to help.
“Kim reached out for me, and we were about a foot apart,” Nathan said. “Our hands were almost there, and somebody inadvertently knocked her off the line.”
The current pushed them away.
Gage: “When did you realize that they were in trouble?”
Lisa: “I heard the one of the captains on top with binoculars on the top deck of the boat say that he had lost visual.”
By the time all of the divers got back on the boat, and they started searching, storms started moving in.
They spent hours looking, but Nathan and Kim floated off.
Their only lifeline was the rain that fell from the sky, giving them something to drink. Their only hope was lights on oil platforms on the horizon.
Kim: “We swam north or northwest-ish, towards the oil platform. Swam for about nine hours on and off.”
Gage: “Was there was there a moment where you thought that this might be it?”
Kim: “The second day, when we thought we had heard the last Coast Guard plane. He had already started regurgitating some salt water. I had had some stomach issues while we were out there. So, we both knew our bodies are getting bad. We’re starting to shut down.”
Gage: “How do you stomach a conversation like that?”
Nathan: “I got to tell her that. Like, if I go first, she needs to cut the tether and just let my body go so that she can be saved.”
Kim: “I had a plan. I won’t say it out loud, but I had a plan. We were going to go together.”
In the eleventh hour, when they were close to giving up, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted them from above. Within minutes, a boat was there to pick them up and take them to shore.
“Thank God for the Coast Guard,” Kim said.
“Saviors of the sea,” Nathan added.
They were both rushed to the hospital badly sunburnt and exhausted. However, they were safe and okay.
The Makers are now home in Oklahoma recovering for another big adventure, this time on dry land.
“I will get to see them Saturday night,” Shearin said. “We’re going to Edmond, Oklahoma and going to spend some time and meet his family.”
The reason why Kim and Nathan wanted to share their incredible story is to highlight the incredible work of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Crews from Galveston, Houston, Corpus Christi and Port O’Connor all helped to bring them home.
“While we’ve got our 15 minutes of fame, we want to use that to highlight the Coast Guard,” Nathan said. “The absolute heroes.”
