Paul Anthony Carbullido Jr. Has spoken out about his terrifying 12 hours lost at sea after falling off a jet ski during a sunset ride off Long Beach.
Carbullido, 53, said LA that a wave swept him and his roommate, Donna Durbay, off their jet skis Sunday evening as they were enjoying what was meant to be a peaceful outing. The pair were inexperienced riders, a detail that would prove critical as the situation deteriorated rapidly. Durbay managed to reach the break wall, but Carbullido vanished into the darkness.
Carbullido had a life jacket on, but could not swim, leaving him completely at the mercy of the sea. He spent the entire night adrift, disoriented and fighting to stay alive in the pitch-black water.
“I was there all night, like just, just thinking of the worst,” he said LA. “I didn’t know which direction to go because it was real dark, you know? And I was just paddling, paddling.”
Durbay, meanwhile, had found her way back to her jet ski but could not restart it. She called the rental company in desperation, telling them, “My friend tipped over on his. We can’t get him in, and now it’s completely dark out, and I can’t see anything.” She yelled for help until she was rescued, but Carbullido remained missing.
Durbay went to the hospital that night believing her roommate was dead. “I left the hospital, and I came home, and I just thought he was dead,” she said. “I was really, really scared.”
Authorities discovered an abandoned jet ski floating beyond the breakwater at approximately 1:15 a.m. Monday, with a second jet ski found about 30 minutes later. Crews from the Coast Guard and Long Beach Fire Department continued searching through the darkness and into the morning as concern mounted for the stranded rider.
Then, around 10:30 a.m., the search produced a stunning breakthrough. A Coast Guard helicopter spotted Carbullido approximately 2.5 miles offshore from the Seal Beach Pier. The helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer, who pulled the freezing and bruised man from the chilly water.
Carbullido described the moment of rescue with raw emotion. “Oh, man, there was relief,” he said. “I was like, if there’s a God out there, there was relief. I can’t describe it. I was ready to give up.”
In the viral moment that has captivated viewers across Southern California, Carbullido’s harrowing ordeal began as a simple sunset jet ski ride with his roommate. The pair set out Sunday evening from Long Beach, but a sudden wave proved catastrophic. Durbay reached safety at the break wall, while Carbullido was carried out to sea, unable to swim and with nothing but his life jacket keeping him afloat. For 12 hours, he paddled blindly in the dark until the Coast Guard helicopter appeared on the horizon, transforming what seemed like certain death into a miraculous survival story.
Carbullido is now recovering in the hospital from hypothermia, his physical condition stable but the psychological scars of his night alone in the ocean likely to linger.