EDMOND, Okla. (CNN Newsource/KOCO/WKRC) - An Oklahoma couple is safe and recovering after going missing while scuba diving off the coast of Texas.
It was truly a miracle at sea.
In total, the couple spent more than a day floating in the water, desperately waiting to be rescued, and on Friday morning, they were.
"People don't survive that and not have a story to tell," said Lisa Shearin, who was on the boat with the couple.
It was 36 hours of searching and 38 hours in the water for Kim and Nathan Maker. It all started when the couple was diving with a group in the ocean. According to a diver who was on the boat with them, others had made it back to the boat but saw Nathan and Kim drifting.
When the group went to get the couple, they were already gone.
"The rain was so hard that you couldn't see outside," said Shearin. "It stormed and the winds were atrocious; the waves were atrocious."
"A huge swell comes in and engulfs Kim and Nathan. When the swell rolls out, they are nowhere to be found," said Charles Owen, family of Nathan and Kim.
But no matter how bad the storms were, that didn't stop the other divers from searching for their missing friends.
"It wasn't like, 'Hey guys, do you have anything better to do tomorrow?' It was like, 'We're staying out and we're looking," said Shearin.
The divers eventually had to leave, unsure of what would happen. Luckily, that's when the Coast Guard took over the search, but after a day with no luck, the family said they were starting to lose hope of a happy ending.
"We determined that we were probably going to end the search this morning if they didn't find anything last night," said Owen.
But Nathan and Kim's family said they prayed and that their prayers were answered. Nathan and Kim were spotted by a plane flying over the gulf.
"They take their dive flashlights and start signaling their SOS signal to that plane," said Owen.
The Coast Guard then sent a ship to rescue the couple just eight hours before the family said the search was going to be called off.
"You know it was God performing a miracle. Using the Coast Guard's eyes and ears and their technology. That's what saved them at the last minute," said Owen.
Throughout the storm and the hours of uncertainty, the couple never left each other's side.
"Even when the swell came over, they found them together," said Owen.
"They have a greater purpose, obviously. God truly did spare them," said Shearin.
The couple is now recovering in a Texas hospital. They suffered from jellyfish stings and dehydration. Family members said that Nathan was nearly in a diabetic coma when he was rescued. Both divers are expected to fully recover.
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