Nick Schuyler On “Oprah”

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LOS ANGELES (GaeaTimes.com)- Nick Schuyler, the sole survivor of the Tampa boating tragedy opened up about the accident on the recent episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The accident saw the death of his best friend Will Bleakley and two other friends who were NFL players. Nick Schuyler had remained aloof from the media for a year after the incident and this was one of the rare occasions when he recounted the horrific 43 hours till he was rescued. In those hours, he not only endured extreme dehydration and starvation but also saw his friends die one by one due to hypothermia.

On February 28, 2009, NFL players Corey Smith, Marquis Cooper went on a boating trip with friend Nick Schuyler and his best friend Will Bleakley. In what started out as a fun trip with friends soon turned out to become a horrifying nightmare as a storm started to blow over. The storm left the friends stranded and their boat capsized after the anchor got stuck. Nick Schuyler saw his friends give in to the hypothermia after showing the symptoms of hallucination and delirium. In spite of his best efforts, he remained the sole survivor on the boat when the rescuers arrived.

The show focused on the sheer strength of the human spirit exhibited by Nick Schuyler, who, however, refused to be called a hero because he could not save his friends. He appeared in a number of shows recently and has also co-written a book called ‘Not Without Hope’. Investigations have concluded that the cause of the capsizing of the boat was due to improper anchoring.