CEDERKEY, FL (WFLA) – Two young girls are lucky to be alive after being left on paddleboards overnight in Cedar Key waters.
The Levy County Sheriff’s Office reported the missing girls Monday evening after attempting a paddle board at Cedar Key.
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Instead, wind and currents blew them south of their intended destination.
Will Pauling is a charter fishing captain in the Yankee Town area and convinced two friends to go and find a girl early Tuesday morning.
“We have kids, and we wanted to get out there, so obviously try and find them. It was cold last night and I thought it would be pretty difficult,” Pauling said.
The men knew the general area to begin their search, but they said something that led directly to the little island where the girls were.
“It basically took 30 minutes from the boat ramp,” said Alex Jeffries. “We almost ran straight in a strange way.”
They said the girls were cold, thirsty and hungry, but were fine.
“They were really easygoing about situations where they were glad they were able to act well in bad situations,” Jeffries said.
The man had to carry the girl to the boat as his legs had been cut by a sharp oyster shell.
“They were locked up on the board. They couldn’t get off the board because all the way is oysters and if you’re here, oysters are very sharp,” Jeffries said.
Thankfully, the man brought some supplies to help.
“They were still on the raft, they were frozen,” Jeffries said. “Fortunately, we brought some towels, snacks, water and more to help make it a little more comfortable.”
The man said searching for a girl was just right.
“If you have the ability to find them, try them out,” said Russ Kuhn, who was also part of the search effort. “What did we need to lose, and when we found them there was literally no one around us, so there was a lot to get.”
The girl was returned to her family.
