A 19-year-old who went missing after surfing at a beach in New South Wales, Australia, was found on an island miles away from the mainland Thursday.
The New South Wales Police Force said the man left his home in Wooli, 350 miles north of Sydney, at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday to go to a local beach. Australian media identified the surfer as Darcy Deefholts.
He spent the night floating on his longboard and ended up on North Solitary Island, 8 miles off the coast of Wooli, according to local media.
The teen’s father, Terry Deefholts, told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph that his son’s survival was a “one-in-a-million miracle” and that he’s “so over the moon,” amazed that his son survived being swept out to sea.
Sea conditions and the winds in the area were calm, which puzzled responders who went looking for Mr. Deefholts.
Rescuer Matthew McClennan told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that “there is a fair bit of current running north to south further out, so I suspect he ended up in the current and drifted south.”
