A 15-year-old Alaska boy survived more than two days alone at sea after his family’s boat overturned, but first endured the heartbreaking loss of his older brother and cousin in the icy Bering Sea, relatives said.
Derek Parker Aghnaanga spent 62 terrifying hours adrift without food or drinking water after the small fishing skiff capsized near the remote St. Lawrence Island.
As he fought to remain alive, the bodies of his two relatives gradually disappeared into the freezing ocean.
Aghnaanga’s aunt, Colleen Walker, said the teenager did everything he could to keep hold of his 35-year-old brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, and 34-year-old cousin, Barton Rookok.
“He tried to hang on as long as he could after they drowned,” Walker wrote on a fundraising page created to support the grieving family.
Eventually, the teenager was left by himself, kneeling on the upturned hull as the disabled boat drifted through the frigid waters in the direction of the Russian border.
His mother, Vina Kulowiyi, said her son drew strength from his faith during the desperate ordeal.
“Four days and three nights. He lived on prayer with no food and water,” she wrote on Facebook. “He said he sat like this praying the whole time.”
Derek Parker Aghnaanga, 15, endured 62 grueling hours on the overturned skiff after losing his brother and cousin in the Bering Sea
Aghnaanga, shown during an earlier boat trip, was experiencing signs of hypothermia when rescuers finally pulled him to safety
Aghnaanga fought to keep hold of his cousin Barton Rookok, 34, pictured left, and his older brother Sidney Kulowiyi, pictured right, after both men drowned during the ordeal
The harrowing journey began on September 4, when Aghnaanga left Savoonga with his older brother and cousin for a halibut fishing trip.
The trio was aboard a small skiff near St. Lawrence Island when the vessel suddenly overturned.
A family spokesman said one of the fishing lines may have become caught in the motor, possibly causing the boat to capsize.
Kulowiyi, who was operating the skiff, became trapped beneath the overturned vessel and drowned, according to his relatives.
Rookok initially managed to survive the capsize and remained with his teenage cousin for about another day.
But family members said he eventually became distressed, went into the water and also died.
Aghnaanga was suddenly the only survivor, stranded on the tiny overturned hull surrounded by miles of open ocean.
Walker has now revealed the agonizing lengths the boy went to in an attempt to keep his brother and cousin with him even after they had died.
Dramatic footage shows the exhausted 15-year-old kneeling alone on the capsized skiff after surviving for 62 hours without food or water
The Northwest Explorer’s fishing crew threw Aghnaanga a line before pulling the skiff alongside their vessel
Sidney Kulowiyi, 35, was Derek’s older brother and a father figure to the teenager after their own father died when they were younger
Barton Rookok, 34, survived alongside Derek for about a day after the skiff capsized before becoming distressed, entering the water and drowning
The tragedy was particularly devastating for the teenager because of his close relationship with his older brother.
Their father died when Aghnaanga was younger, and Walker previously said Kulowiyi had become something of a father figure to the boy.
Kulowiyi was a commercial fishing captain and was described by his aunt as a humble and loving ‘provider for people in the village.’
Fishing remains a vital part of everyday life in Savoonga, a community of roughly 800 people where catches are routinely shared with relatives and neighbors.
‘That’s how we do it in our community. We take care of one another,’ Walker previously said. ‘We still live a traditional way of life even if the world is changing.’
But as the hours passed at sea, nobody knew if Aghnaanga was still alive.
The fishing party had been expected to return home by early Sunday morning, but when they failed to appear, Alaska State Troopers eventually alerted the US Coast Guard at around 8.30pm that night.
Aircraft were dispatched to scour the vast stretch of ocean.
Then, at around 10.30am on September 7, a Coast Guard aircrew spotted the teenager, wearing a bright yellow jacket and kneeling on top of the overturned skiff.
The Coast Guard dropped a life raft and emergency supplies before calling on the Northwest Explorer, a nearby fishing vessel carrying a crew of 13 along with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists, to help bring him aboard.
‘We saw the unusual object on the horizon,’ Northwest Explorer captain Adam White later recalled. ‘We blasted our horn a couple times.’
Dramatic video captured the vessel approaching the tiny skiff and its lone survivor.
Crew members threw Aghnaanga a line and gradually pulled the overturned boat closer before maneuvering the exhausted teenager into a rescue basket and lifting him to safety.
The teenager was lifted from the overturned boat in a rescue basket after his extraordinary ordeal at sea
Once aboard, the hypothermic teenager told rescuers through chattering teeth that his brother was still beneath the skiff and revealed what had happened to his cousin
‘I mean, that’s one tough kid,’ White said.
But even as rescuers celebrated finding him alive, Aghnaanga was trying to tell them what had happened to his relatives.
‘Through the teeth chattering, [Aghnaanga] had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff,’ White told KTUU.
The teenager was suffering symptoms of hypothermia after his ordeal.
Crew members immediately wrapped him in blankets, placed hot packs around him and kept him talking as the Northwest Explorer headed toward Nome, where he could finally be reunited with his family.
For White, the mission left an emotional mark long after the teenager had been pulled aboard.
‘When you look into a family member’s eyes… there’s gratitude, but sorrow at the same time,’ the captain said.
‘I know I became overwhelmed with it so I had to go hide in my room for a minute.’
Back on shore, Aghnaanga’s relatives had been anxiously following radio transmissions from the rescue operation.
‘We all cried and jumped for joy when the captain announced on the radio, ‘We found a kid, he’s alive, he’s alive,’ Walker previously recalled.
Sunaaghruk Nunguk, posted a photo alongside Derek Aghnaanga, celebrating his return
Aghnaanga looked up to his older brother Sidney as a father figure after their own father died when the boys were younger
A tribute was held on the to Sidney Kulowiyi and Barton Rookok with residents firing rifles out to sea
Friends, family members and local residents held hands as they remembered the two men
Darren Toolie Noongwook celebrated his brother Derek’s extraordinary survival after the 15-year-old was finally rescued following days at sea
But their jubilation was immediately tempered by the realization that Aghnaanga had been found alone.
‘Then we asked, ‘Where’s the rest of them?”
The Northwest Explorer later recovered the bodies of Kulowiyi and Rookok, bringing a devastating end to the search for the other two fishermen.
A GoFundMe created for Aghnaanga and his family has since raised $48,000.
The money is intended to help cover funeral expenses and support the family as the teenage survivor recovers.
