In a miraculous story of survival, Walter Marino and his 13-year-old son Christopher were rescued after treading water in open ocean of the coast of Florida without lifejackets for 12 hours.
When Christopher Marino was dragged away from shore because of a violent rip tide, his father jumped in after him to help. Like so many similar stories, he was also captured by the rip tide and pulled deep into the Atlantic. Unlike most of these stories, this one ended with both father and son being found alive after spending a night at sea.
Christopher Marino has autism and his father thinks that is one reason why he was able to survive. People with autism often lack the fear of death. While that is normally one of the biggest dangers of autism, it might have worked in Christopher’s favor here, preventing an emotional crisis that might have led to drowning. Since Christopher doesn’t verbally communicate easily, Walter kept track of him by reciting lines from movies and having Christopher finish them. "To infinity…" Walter would start. "And beyond!" Christopher would echo. However, once Christopher floated out of earshot in the middle of the night, Walter Marino thought he would never see his son again.
The next day, a passing boat saw a glimmer of a religious metal on Walter Marino’s necklace, a gift from God, he thinks, and rescued him. They told him that they had not seen his son. He was transfered to a Coast Guard boat and they didn’t have any news about Christopher either. After another hour of searching, they got news that Christopher had been rescued and was safe aboard a Coast Guard helicopter. After 12 hours of treading water, the Marino family was reunited.
CNN has the coverage and the following video:
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