Twenty-four-year-old U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) rescue swimmer Josh Law said he rescued 16 people from the Pacific Ocean in the small hours of October 16.
The rescue occurred about 140 miles off the coast of Mexico on a route often traversed by migrant smuggling boats, the Associated Press (AP) reported Saturday.
Federal authorities are now investigating the incident and Mexican officials said those rescued were Mexicans.
When crews at the USCG Air Station in Ventura, California, were alerted to the call about a boat that was sinking off the coast of Ensenada, Mexico, Law and helicopter pilot Lt. Miyako Miller were among a crew of four who quickly grabbed their gear and rushed to the area in the darkness.
Miller said she relied on the stars to navigate because there was no moonlight, and lowered the helicopter over the water as Law prepared for the rescue.
Law strapped into his harness and got to work by swimming to each individual and getting them into the rescue basket. Even though the dry suit he was wearing began filling with water, Law kept working.
When the helicopter was full, the crew took off for San Diego to hand over the survivors to waiting ambulances. During the flight, Law noted he treated three individuals whose injuries appeared to be due to shark bites.
Law said when he arrived at the scene, the people in the water were panicking as the massive waves crashed around them.
“I had to get them to the basket in any way I could,” he recalled. Eleven other people at the scene were never found, CBS 8 reported.
Per the AP, “Customs and Border Protection officers went to a hospital and said they would process the survivors according to immigration laws after they were medically cleared. Nearly half of those rescued have since been returned to Mexico, U.S. officials said.”
Law’s name is listed on the Coast Guard Aviation Association website under the rescue swimmer roster.
According to the USCG, Aviation Survival Technician (ASTs) “are the Coast Guard’s specialized rescue swimmers, equipped with the survival training and experience necessary to keep themselves and others alive at sea or on land.”
“With the gear you maintain, you’ll fly on Coast Guard helicopters into a range of challenging situations, from emergencies at sea to floods on land to cliff-side rescues. AST tasks require the highest degree of physical fitness. ASTs are typically assigned to Coast Guard air stations,” the site read.