Incredible moment family finds missing diver after he was swept away by a strong current

Dylan Gartenmayer has been diving and spearfishing on the coast of Florida since he was just ten years old and this experience helped him to deal with a terrifying incident that left him stranded at sea for hours as per a video on Facebook shared by his cousin Priscilla Gartenmayer. One fine day the 21-year-old was free diving at the Western Sambo Reef near Key West on Thursday afternoon when a strong current dragged him away from his boat.

When he returned to the surface, the current had carried him so far that his two friends didn't even notice him. His cousin Priscilla Gartenmayer told CNN that he just quickly disappeared in front of their eyes and they couldn't see him anywhere nearby. His friends searched the sea for 30 minutes before calling the Coast Guard for help as the water was rough and the waves were starting to hit hard. Connor has been diving for 11 years and his Instagram is filled with photographs of him holding a variety of species, including pompano, grouper, red drum, and wahoo that he caught to date.

Gartenmayer later said he could still see the boat, but his friends couldn't see him. He grabbed a bamboo stick to float and swam back to the reef. His friends searched him for hours and after swimming two miles they decided to leave as it was getting darker and the boat had no lights. Tired, Gartenmayer cut three buoys to make a hammock-like float. While he focused on surviving, his friends and family worked hard to find and rescue him. "I got a call from someone on the boat Dylan was diving from saying he had been missing for two hours. I had them send me the coordinates," his friend Sean Caggiano said "I went to his grandfather’s house to get with his family and go find him."

Priscilla Gartenmayer mentioned how, within 15 minutes, family and friends gathered and jumped into their grandfather’s boat to search for Dylan. "The first thought was that he blacked out while diving and drowned. It was horrible – the worst feeling I’ve ever felt," she said. The family reached Dylan's last location as fast as possible since the light had begun to fade and they knew that the night would make the rescue more difficult. "Everything was silent on the boat until the flashlight hit him and he raised his hands - then we knew he was OK," recalls Priscilla Gartenmayer.

A while after they lay eyes on Dylan and you can see Dylan's family members can be seen jumping up and down with pleasure when they find him alive. Moments later, his family dragged him, shivering, inside the boat. Videos posted on Facebook show his family holding him closely. Dylan's relative revealed that his first request was for water. The coast guard arrived, checked on Gartenmayer, and discovered that his core temperature was somewhat low. They transported him to their station for approximately an hour until his temperature stabilized, according to his family.