FL FL - NFL Players missing off Clearwater Pass - Boat capsized - 28 Feb 2009

[Brwnigirl]

Two days before tragic trip, NFL player was urged to buy life-saving device

oh wow can this get any more heartbreaking? If only he bought that device. If only the helicopter spotted them. It must have been hard for Nick to see all his friends perish and still hang on, that's a miracle.

 

[sleuthin4fun]

anyone hear anything?
not to be disrespectful...or gross but I thought bodies floated after a certain amount of time in water....I just cant understand why they havnt been found. Washed ashore or something...
Hubby said there shouldnt be an issue with sharks as the water is too cold for them...

After death the body begins to decompose and fill with gas. It would float after that occurs. I would think though that would attract all kinds of wild life (you know what I mean). Scary and very very sad!

 

[wildTrose]

Im still new to the ocean life....Im learning quickly...

 

[lizzybeth]

oh wow can this get any more heartbreaking? If only he bought that device. If only the helicopter spotted them. It must have been hard for Nick to see all his friends perish and still hang on, that's a miracle.

I hope Nick has some type of counseling as I'm sure he's going to suffer from survivor's guilt.

 

[Sleuthster]

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=101798&catid=8



Tampa, Florida -- We are learning new information on the boating accident that left three of four fishermen lost at sea and why one father, Bruce Cooper, called off the independent search he asked for.


Until late Thursday evening, Cooper was doing what any parent would do, holding out hope his son would be found alive. But after hearing from investigators who had more time to talk with survivor Nick Schuyler, Cooper was convinced it was time deal with the reality that his son and the others did not survive.


Even before Nick Schuyler was rushed to Tampa General Hospital after the dramatic rescue at sea, he gave a brief explanation of the events to the Coast Guard crew who rescued him. His doctor, Mark Rumback, says Schuyler was lucid. Rumback says he believes the recollection was pretty good and he would believe what Schuyler said.


10 Connects has now learned more details of what Schuyler says happened the night of the accident. Sources tell us Schuyler says when the boat capsized Saturday night, the boaters swam under it to get life preservers. But they could only find three and used a seat cushion as a fourth.


Nick Schuyler, Cory Smith and Marquis Cooper all had life vests. Will Bleakley used the seat cushion.


As the four boaters were being pounded by wind and waves, sources say Marquis Cooper appeared to have suffered what's called a "paradoxical undressing," which is a type of hypothermia in which the victim feels overly warm and sheds clothing.


Doctors say the blood rushes away from the extremities and goes to protect the vital organs. That causes the victim to feel as if the body temperature is rising when it is actually dropping.


Between 25 and 50 percent of the hypothermia victims die from the paradoxical undressing.


Investigators say that's when Marquis Cooper died of hypothermia, which makes more sense to his father, because he knows his son wouldn't just give up.


Earlier this week, his father Bruce said his child is "going to fight to the bitter end."

Bruce Cooper was given that information Thursday night, so on Friday morning, he called off the voluntary search for the missing boaters and is now coping with feelings no parent can imagine.

Mike Deeson, 10 Connects

 

[arielilane]

It gives a bit of information on each missing person. Prayers for their families and friends. Glad Nick is safe!

Updated: March 4, 2009, 8:39 AM ET
Missing at sea, players

Marquis Cooper was an avid fisherman. When he played at Washington, he considered majoring in marine biology -- until he looked at the math requirements. Still, Marquis was a guppy at heart. His father believed if you plucked a fish out of the water, Marquis could tell you what it was.

In fact, when Bruce and Marquis ventured out on their father-and-son trip, Bruce admitted he was a bit on edge because they had gone so far from the shore -- at least 50 miles, Bruce said. His son, though, was at ease.

"I looked in all four directions and saw nothing but water," said Cooper, a sportscaster for Phoenix's KPNX-TV, "but he knew the sun sets in the west and we came in the east."


Will Bleakley
Trying to put the pieces together was frustrating for all the families, but especially for the Bleakleys. Will, 25, told his father on Friday that he was going on a fishing trip with three of his buddies, and his father was immediately concerned. The forecast called for cool, windy weather, which might make the sea particularly difficult to navigate. But Will had made up his mind.

"Will's not a second-guesser," his dad said. "We would go into the toy stores when he was little, and some kids will pick stuff up and say, 'I want this,' or, 'No, I want this.' Will wasn't that way. He'd say, 'Yep, I want this.' And that was it. That was Will."


Corey Smith
Corey was another overachiever. An undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State, the 29-year-old was with the Detroit Lions the past three seasons. He knew football wouldn't last forever, so he attended a two-week, NFL small business seminar at Harvard in the summer of 2008 because he wanted to open an electronics repair shop someday.

Anyone you talk to will tell you the same three things about Corey: He didn't smoke, didn't drink and took excellent care of his body.

"He's almost too perfect for words," one member of the Lions organization said. "He is not the classic athlete. He's a guy that really had to make a way for himself. If we could have put his heart in these other guys, no way we would have gone 0-16."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3949959

 

[Roxanne]

FYI - my nephew, Nick, did an interview with HBO Sports. It's going to be shown on HBO Sports with Bryant Gumble on August 18th at 10:00 pm.

 

[Brwnigirl]

Just wondering what people are thinking about now that the book has come out, and there appears to be controversy with the Cooper family believing Nick's account???

 

[dreamweaver]

Just wondering what people are thinking about now that the book has come out, and there appears to be controversy with the Cooper family believing Nick's account???

I had not heard of a book. ?

 

[Roxanne]

I had not heard of a book. ?

Nick's book was released on March 2...the one year anniversary of his rescue.

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061993992/Not_Without_Hope/index.aspx

As he mentioned in the book and during his interviews last week, the book was going to be written with or without him so he made the decision to tell HIS story.

It's been a rough year for Nick and his family as they continue to heal from his accident.

 

[lizzybeth]

I'm in the process of reading Nick's book. I'm just at the part where they are clinging to life and the boat.

From what I've read so far, the fact that the two NFL players were in such good shape played against them. They had less body fat and therefore couldn't retain their body heat as long as an average, somewhat overweight person.

 

[belimom]

Just wondering what people are thinking about now that the book has come out, and there appears to be controversy with the Cooper family believing Nick's account???

I have my doubts... I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. In a fight for survival and being wet, cold, tired, hungry, dehydrated - I'm assuming there may have been some competition for the primo spot on top of the boat, as well as for the three lifejackets for four BIG guys. It may take two to keep one of those fellas afloat.

Just my opinion only.