Not Without Hope

In this remarkable story of survival and determination, friendship and loss, and hope against unfathomable odds, Nick Schuyler, a former USF football player, relives the most intense 45 hours of his life spent clinging to the side of a small fishing boat 35 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. He was the only man rescued in a fishing-party that included former Radiers linebacker Marquis Cooper, 26, Lions defensive end Corey Smith, 29, and Will Bleakley, 25, a teammate from the University of South Florida.
Their 21-foot boat -- taken out for a friendly fishing trip -- flipped on a Saturday evening in Feb 2009, hurling the four athletes into the rough water. For more than 12 hours, the foursome gripped the boat as the temperature dropped to 60 degrees and the waves climbed over 10 feet. Marquis Cooper retrieved life jackets from underneath the boat, and they passed the time telling stories of loved ones and memories from the gridiron. One by one, Marquis Cooper then Corey Smith, and finally Schuyler's best friend and former teammate Will Bleakley succumbed to hypothermia, brought on by the rough water and cold temperatures. Schuyler held each one in his arms as they passed, unable to do anything to help them.
Schuyler clung to the exposed propeller of the boat, alone, for several more hours overnight before being found by the Coast Guard the next morning, 45 hours after he was tossed into the Gulf of Mexico. He survived, in part, because he was fully clothed in a hooded sweatshirt, ski cap, and pants after feeling sea sick during the fishing trip. Still though, Schuyler suffered from severe hypothermia in addition to lacerations along his thighs and torso -- and more importantly the guilt of being the only man to survive.
NOT WITHOUT HOPE is a layered story. Nick Schuyler, along with author and journalist Jere Longman, will recount the events leading up to the fateful day and the four lives that became inextricably intertwined. They will also track the steps of the search and rescue mission, and explore the psychological and physiological depths that Nick had to endure to survive.