This happened about 2 weeks ago off of NC. Tragically 4 men lost their lives and 2 survived:
Survivors talk about ordeal
Two Banner Elk firefighters said Friday that they survived more than 10 hours in the frigid ocean, swam to shore with a shoelace keeping them together, and flagged down a pizza delivery girl to rescue four friends floating in the sea.
They were too late.
By the time the Coast Guard reached the other firemen who had been aboard an 18-foot boat off Ocean Isle in Brunswick County, they had succumbed to the 58-degree sea.
The men who died Wednesday were Michael Shope, 21, and Archibald McFadyen, 20, both of Raleigh; Kevin Bell, 38, of Banner Elk and Nathan "Griff" Lyerly, 22, of Mooresville.
"We could hear them but not see them. We yelled and told them we loved them and we would send help. Kevin said he understood," Virgil Poore wrote in a statement that fellow survivor Sean Knight issued Friday evening.
They emerged from the firehouse of this mountain town's volunteer department where they had remained cloistered all day to deliver their account. They said their grief would not permit them to speak again until after their friends' funerals.
Outside the building, firefighters rolled Engine No. 1 to the edge of N.C. 184, with American flags held under windshield wipers and the helmets of the dead firefighters resting on the bumper.
"This is them," Poore, 28, said, gesturing to the helmets. He and Knight, 23, stood expressionless, hands in pockets.
On the coast, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was investigating the accident, which occurred on a fishing trip during spring break at Lees-McRae College, a small mountaintop institution where Shope, Lyerly and McFadyen were students.
Sgt. Bill Lester said a report would take days to complete. The Coast Guard said small craft advisories warning of 5- to 10-knot winds and 1- to 2-foot seas were in effect where the men capsized.
The six men left Ocean Isle on Wednesday morning aboard an 18-foot double-hulled vessel, the Wild Goose. According to Poore and Knight's account, the six were headed for a reef they had mapped with global positioning system coordinates.
About noon, they wrote, a swell pushed the nose of the boat under water. As the men scrambled for lifejackets and tried to send a radio distress signal, a second swell capsized the craft. Lyerly swam underneath the boat to collect the remaining life jackets.
The swells had hit them within 15 seconds, but they clung to the boat's hull for about two hours. Then, they decided to swim for shore, about five miles away.
The men took off their shoes, removed the laces and tied themselves together in pairs.
About sunset, Poore and Knight lost track of the others.
Poore and Knight reached shore at Holden Beach about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and went to a house where no one answered the door. Eventually, they flagged down a Domino's Pizza deliverer who called 911.
The Coast Guard began a 10-hour search that found the four victims about 1.5 miles offshore. Three were wearing life jackets when their bodies were recovered, Coast Guard officials said.
The four men died of hypothermia, Lester said.
In Banner Elk, a crossroads community near the Tennessee border, neighbors stopped by the one-story brick fire station to leave flowers or pay respects. A waitress donated her tips to help the victims' families.
The rest of the volunteer department pushed through the day while other volunteers, some from distant towns, handled their calls. "For us to operate heavy equipment at this point, wouldn't be a good thing," Assistant Chief Christopher Parent said.
Harvey Smith, a fireman from Foscoe, eight miles away, stopped to admire the makeshift memorial. "Were brothers in arms, we band together," Smith said.
Firefighters added to the memorial. There were photos: Lyerly with wild blond hair, Shope smiling as a small fire in burned behind him, Bell leaning against a large boulder on a cliff, and McFadyen in a baseball cap and Marlboro T-shirt.
A memorial service was scheduled in Banner Elk on Wednesday. A prayer service is scheduled Monday at Lees-McRae College.
College spokeswoman Sunny Townes said all three men were prominent among the 875-member student body. "Michael was a soccer player, Arch was on the ski club," she said. "They were all three very active. Just by their nature they kind of stood out."
McFadyen's funeral will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh. Shope's will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Providence Baptist Church.
McFayden loved shagging and beach music as well as all manner of outdoor activities, according to his obituary. Shope, who majored in criminal justice, planned to become a professional firefighter, according to his.
Lees-McRae College president David Bushman said the campus was particularly hard hit by the loss because it is so small. Fellow students knew the three from class, clubs and sports.
"Students are returning from spring break on Sunday," he said, "but not all of them and that's what really hurts."
(Staff writer Jerry Allegood contributed to this report.)
Staff writer Josh Shaffer can be reached at 829-4818 or
[email protected].