A TEENAGE boy miraculously survived days stranded on an overturned fishing boat in freezing waters after his brother and cousin drowned.

Parker, 15, was found desperately clinging to the capsized vessel off an Alaskan island after reportedly going days without food or water.

A teen miraculously survived days stranded on an overturned fishing boat in freezing Alaskan waters

Parker, 15, was found clinging to the capsized vessel after his brother and cousin drowned

The boy had been fishing for halibut with his older brother Sidney and their cousin when their 18-foot boat ran into trouble near St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.

Parker’s brother and cousin both died in the horror ordeal, leaving Parker alone on the overturned skiff until rescuers finally spotted him.

Coast Guard pilot Lt. Cmdr. Jonathon Resch described his survival as “nothing short of miraculous.”

He told ABC News: “People don’t survive those scenarios.

“People don’t flip boats and survive nights. They don’t do it in warm water, let alone in water that’s, you know, 40 degrees.”

The boat had left Savoonga on Friday and was expected to return in the early hours of Sunday.

But the crew failed to come home and Alaska State Troopers alerted the Coast Guard on Sunday night.

Terrible weather and poor visibility meant rescuers were unable to begin searching until Monday.

Parker later told his family that a fishing line had become badly tangled around the boat’s motor, leaving the exhausted crew stranded.

His brother Darren Toolie-Noongwook said: “Once the motor got caught in the fishing line, they tried to untangle it, but they couldn’t because of how bad it was tangled.

“So they were just sitting, and then later on at the end of the night, the weather got bad and the boat flipped.”

Sidney had reportedly been trying to get Parker a life jacket when he became tangled in the lines as the vessel overturned.

Parker and his cousin managed to scramble onto the upturned boat, but Sidney did not make it.

Toolie-Noongwook said Sidney was “the first to go.”

The two survivors then spent the night together on top of the skiff before Parker’s cousin reportedly began to panic.

Toolie-Noongwook said: “The other crew member – our cousin – he started freaking out, and he jumped ship.

“And he only swam five to six feet, and he sadly had drowned.”

Parker was now completely alone in the bitter conditions.

The boat flipped when a fishing line tangled the motor in rough weather

Rescuers located Parker after terrible weather delayed search efforts

But his family said the teen refused to give up, believing his older brother was “watching over him”.

“He was sitting on his knees, just praying the whole time,” Toolie-Noongwook said.

“He said he believed he was going to make it. He believed that he was gonna be found and he was gonna be safe, and it happened.”

The Coast Guard eventually spotted Parker kneeling on top of the overturned skiff around four miles east of St. Lawrence Island on Monday.

Rescuers dropped flares and life rafts around the vessel while directing the nearby Northwest Explorer towards him.

Captain Adam White said his 13-strong crew and scientists aboard the ship desperately scanned the water as they approached the coordinates.

“When he finally came into view, it was elation from everybody,” he said.

“Everybody cheered.”

Dramatic footage shows Parker still kneeling on the overturned boat before the Northwest Explorer blasts its horn to let him know help had arrived.

The teenager was unable to reach life rafts that had been dropped nearby, meaning the crew had to throw him a line.

White said: “We were lucky enough, because the kid was so tough, so strong that that he was able to grab a hold of a heaving line that we threw to him.

“And he was able to hold on while we sort of reeled him in. And I just, like, can’t believe how tough this kid is.”

Parker was suffering from hypothermia when he was finally hauled aboard.

White said the shivering teen then revealed what had happened to his relatives.

“Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff and then he said that in the previous night before our rescue that his cousin had slipped away off the top of the skiff,” he told Alaska’s News Source.

The crew worked to warm Parker before taking him to Nome for medical attention.

The bodies of the other two fishermen were also recovered from the water, according to the Coast Guard.

White later met Parker’s grieving family and said the emotional encounter became overwhelming.

“We gave each other a really long hug, and they just, they had a lot of joy,” he said.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of pain in their eyes – there’s a lot of sorrow. It’s just so much, so much mixed emotions.”

Toolie-Noongwook said the family is now “spoiling the hell” out of Parker while mourning Sidney, who helped provide for them.

He said: “It’s going to be a long, long process because of how, how painful this was.

“We’re so happy that he [Parker] survived, but the trauma that comes with it, it hurts us. We’re all in pain for him.”

Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard Arctic District, said: “Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and communities affected by the tragic loss of these two mariners.

“We are grateful for the incredible efforts of the motor vessel Northwest Explorer, Federal, State, Village first responders and mission partners who assisted in the effort that resulted in a life saved.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16986626/boy-survivor-alaska-fishing-boat-capsized-kills-brother/