Josh Law is 24 years old and is a rescue swimmer with the United States Coast Guard. In the early hours of October 16, the alarm sounded at the air station in Ventura, California, and within minutes he and his team were already airborne.
Around 01:00, someone aboard a vessel had sent a distress call: the boat was sinking about 225 kilometers west of Ensenada, Baja California. Lieutenant Miyako Miller, the helicopter pilot, plotted a route south, crossing the border. From the air, she spotted the tiny lights of life jackets scattered across a vast area. Some survivors were clinging to one another, to buoys, or to the wreckage.
Law descended on a harness in the middle of the night. According to Excélsior, he was the first to arrive and for about two hours the only rescuer, amid waves between 1,5 and 2 meters high. He rescued 16 people, all of them Mexican, three of whom had injuries consistent with shark bites. According to the survivors, up to 27 people were aboard the boat. The other 11 were never found.
