'I fell to my knees': Divers reunited with family after rescue off NC coast

The Coast Guard on Monday rescued four missing divers after searching for the men Sunday night off the North Carolina coast.

Ben Wiggins, 64, Luke Lodge, 26, Daniel Williams, 46, and Evan Williams, 15, were all rescued after floating in the dark for more than 15 hours. The Coast Guard said the men were diving 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The divers were spotted by a strobe light around 12:45 a.m., and crews launched a life raft to rescue them.

Williams, a surgeon in Moore County, said he has been diving since he was 12. He said the group had planned to dive three dives, the first set to take place around 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

On Tuesday Williams was back at work performing spinal surgeries, telling WRAL News the work is calming after miraculously being rescued at sea.

The men were stranded in the Atlantic in a tiny raft for more than 15 hours, bobbing up and down in choppy waters.

"I knew God was gonna save us, he had other plans for us," Williams said.

Williams was with his son, Evan, and the two others. The group had set out Sunday morning for a routine dive near Frying Pan Shoals.

"It was going to be a good day," Williams said.

On Sunday around 9:30 a.m., all four dived 85 feet below the water. Williams said his two younger sons, 8 and 11, were on the dive boat with the captain.

When the four resurfaced, the dive boat had drifted close to 300 yards away.

"We were trying to swim to the boat, but [it was] getting further away," Williams said, adding the younger divers stripped their wetsuits and began swimming toward the boat. "We realized we wouldn't make it against the current. We swam for 4 to 5 hours until dark ... panic set in."

The men waited, hungry and thirsty, in total darkness. Williams wrapped a noodle around his son and told him to get a little rest.

Williams stayed awake, using his SOS strobe light to signal to helicopters flying overhead.

"I would take it, point it at the plane, [but] nothing happened," he said.

Finally, a Coast Guard helicopter spotted the men.

"I don’t know how to describe it ... I woke everyone up," he said.

A spokesperson from the Coast Guard said searching for the men was as difficult as looking for a watermelon in the ocean.

By dawn the four men were reunited with their frantic families at Oak Island

"The moment I saw my kid come running down the dock I fell to my knees on the ramp, I just held them tight, [said I was] sorry I scared them," Williams described.

Apart from dehydration and a sunburn, all of the divers were uninjured.

The Coast Guard shared pictures of the boaters, who were reunited with their family members Monday around 6:15 a.m.