This is so sad if his account is accurate. Plus I read that a helicopter actually shone a light on the boat, but likely couldn't see it cause of the white bottom of the boat.
Lots of good data in this thread on the same topic: http://forums.theganggreen.com/showthread.php?t=43094 Personally, I do not think they should have published the fact that the players took off their life jackets & gave up. What a heartbreaker for the families. Especially when the survivor stated that he fought so long & hard, because he did not want his mom to have to attend his funeral.
Wow... I have a hard time believing that these guys, being professional athletes actually gave up and let the sea take them. Maybe it is one of those things you have to experience and be out there in, but I can't see just taking off the life vest and letting go. They guy trying to swim to safety taking his vest off was just flat out stupid. Maybe the cold and shock was getting to him or something.
This is shady, I could understand giving up after a certain amount of time but why would you take your life preserver off to float away? Wouldnt you just let go of the boat and float away? Sounds like there is a lot more to this story than what we know.
I doubt it... A few hours in the cold water with relentless waves crashing over them. It isn't a stretch that they just gave up...
Exactly. This MD is saying that it was only by divine intervention that the guy made it. His body temp was 89 degrees, he has muscle damage & probably orthopedic injuries from getting banged around in the waves: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=txnflplayersmissing&prov=st&type=lgns
I don't think this is a very complicated story at all. even if the guys left their vests on and floated away, that doesn't change what happened, how they died or were in the situation to begin significantly.
Like you said you don't know unless you are in the situation. Maybe he lost track of time and it was longer than a few hours. Maybe they were hallucinating? Yeah taking off the vest is stupid, but clearly in that situation you aren't in your right mind. And like Cassie said I don't know that they should have released the information about them removing their life vests.
Ugh. That's gruesome. Sent a chill down my spine, because of the idea of that panic feeling of drowning. I almost drowned when I was eight and it's a horrible, horrible, sensation - until you give up, I reckon. Anyway, it gave me an immediate mental picture of the film 'Open Water'. If they felt that resigned, they probably saw drowning as a peaceful alternative, if you can imagine that. Confused, probably. Sharks around? Who is to say - more 'Open Water' reminders. Still don't get why the Bleakely fellow who thought he'd try to swim to safety took his life jacket off. Cumbersome or not thinking clearly - probably both. I still don't get why they'd do such a thing. 'It's 10 degrees below zero out. Guess I'll stand outside without a coat or socks on'? - what the frig. It's like JFK, Jr. making that asinine decision to fly that asinine plane. That Schyler guy, sometimes I think there's just this primal part of your brain that kicks in in some people. It still 'tries' to survive even if you consciously aren't. Been there, done that. I feel terrible for their families, and for them, too - even though they're dead, if that makes any sense.
Because he was probably hallucinating. He thought he saw a light that he could swim to. He probably thought he was very close to sure. He spent hours in the cold ocean with 14 foot waves crashing on him. It wears a person down mentally. Obviously he wasn't in his right mind. No one should condemn or demean him, he is dead.
The story is now different that reported. Now it says he died in the lone survivors grip. duh sometimes I wonder where my head is at. lone.
This just totally sucks. It never should have come out, that the NFL players, "gave up." Why put their families through even more heartbreak??? Now they have all of these volunteers, in boats & planes looking for the other three. Just a friggin' tragedy.
I just hope they are being safe. The coast guard doesn't want another search and rescue on their hands.
Great point. Like that mine disaster, where the volunteers were trying so hard to find the trapped miners. Then the volunteers ended up dying as well. Horrible tragedy, all while trying to help out their buddies.
or it can provide comfort in the possibility that their loved ones were perhaps at peace with their decision. no matter how bad things are, you want to know exactly what happened to your loved ones. the less you have to imagine what happened the less you have the possibility of imagining that things that did happen were far worse than they may have been.
I didn't condemn or demean them. I said Bleakely probably wasn't thinking clearly - which is pretty much what you said. I also said I feel terrible for their families as well as for them. It's more of a tragedy because it's a tragedy that could have been avoided, but just how did I say something unsympathetic in either paragraph? I'm just curious how you saw it that way. Saying it wasn't smart isn't saying the same thing as saying they 'deserved it'. I don't think most people are 1) that callous or 2) really believe that. What about those dolts despite declared state emergencies in bad weather who put emergency personnel at risk because they just can't resist going out for a gallon of milk? Rescue personnel get killed over such things unecessarily, and last I heard, it was a crime during state imposed 'stay home unless you're dying' type scenarios. That doesn't quite fall into the boat tragedy here, but if rescue folks did die on this one - which they would risk their own lives to try - it STILL doesn't fall into 'deserved it'. However, I think people would be more upset all around if that had happened because it would have compounded it.
