Boy wakes after sea ordeal

A YOUNG boy has woken from an induced coma and is talking to loved ones in a miracle recovery following six hours stranded at sea after his father’s fishing boat sank.

A fishing trip off the Sunshine Coast turned disastrous at 1.40am on Sunday when the boy’s father Maike Hohnen, 38, made a distress call reporting his five-metre boat was taking on water. He, his friend Stephen Jeacocke, 48, and Julian, 7, pictured, were forced into cold waters. The two men clung to a cooler and buckets while taking turns holding Julian out of the water until they were rescued about 8am.

Julian was in a critical condition suffering hypothermia but yesterday his family said he was in a stable condition and his recovery was a “testament to his fighting spirit”.