REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Wednesday, February 16, 2011

THE thought of not seeing his family again pushed fisherman Andy Wilson to swim 5km in shark-infested waters after he fell from his boat.

For eight terrifying hours, Andy was determined not to die.

Surrounded by sharks and jellyfish and hindered by strong currents, the 25-year-old Tweed

Heads man swam for his life after a wave washed him overboard from his boat near Nine Mile Reef, off Fingal Head, about 1pm the previous day.

“I wasn’t going to stop. I had to keep going,” he said yesterday, safe at home with his fiancee Katie Gardiner by his side.

“I think it was adrenalin, or sheer determination.”

Katie said words could not express how worried she was for the love of her life.

“You have no idea,” she said.

“I’m really proud of him, and I’m really glad that he’s home. No fishing for a while.”

The alarm was raised when his unmanned runabout was seen by lifeguards circling off Kirra Beach on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite extensive air and sea searches, there was no trace of the Tweed builder, who had set off on a fishing trip in his Sea Hunt 186 Triton 5.6m boat from the Kennedy Dve boat ramp about 11.30am. Amazingly, Andy clambered ashore about 9pm.