A Florida family is thanking their lucky stars after a loved one went missing in the ocean last week.
Gartenmayer’s family leapt into action after learning he was stranded in open water — and anow-viral videocaptured his harrowing rescue and happy reunion.
“It had to be God protecting him the whole time, our angels above, because for us to land right on him, you can see it was a needle in a haystack out there,” she toldTodayhostsHoda KotbandSavannah Guthrie.
Dylan said during the interview he was spearfishing last Thursday when he drifted nearly a mile away from the boat that took him out to sea, and was forced to hold his breath for nearly two minutes as he was swept away.
He claimed the men he was diving with — whom he had met on Facebook — “just left” the scene, and didn’t call the Coast Guard for help.
For more on this story, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“I was just getting dragged further and further and I watched the boat just slowly getting smaller,” Dylan said Wednesday. “It was definitely like, ‘Okay, this is starting to get serious for sure.’ "
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I got the call right after I got off of work, and my ex-husband, his dad, said ‘Tab, Dylan’s been missing for an hour,’ and the way he sounded, it literally took my breath away,” she explained. “I couldn’t even breathe. Like everything just went away, and I was just standing there stuck.”
As the sun was setting, Dylan was dealing with less than 10 feet of visibility, he said. “Watching that sun drop, that was is kinda making my heart sink,” he toldToday. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a long night out here.’ "
Dylan said in the interview he encountered a couple types of jellyfish in the water. “Luckily the wet suit was there protecting me,” he added.
It didn’t take the young man long to realize his family had come to his rescue, either. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s my grandpa’s boat!’ " he said.
Dylan hugged his mom as soon as he was pulled onto the boat, which he said “was the greatest relief ever.”
Despite the ordeal, Dylan plans to resume spearfishing soon. His mother approves, as long as he is safe.
“He’s a grown man, it’s his passion, and every time he goes out, he’s like, ‘This is what I love to do,’ " she said. “As long as he is doing what he loves to do, but he is safer, and goes with people that will be close to the boat and watch him … that’s a big deal for me.”
source: people.com
