The brother and sister today told how they swam for their survival when a fishing trip took a disasterous turn in St. Lucia last week and they were forced to swim for 14 hours to land.
Dan and Kate Suski spoke out about how their fishing trip to the Caribbean island was more like the plot of a horror film when the boat was flooded with water causing it to capsize.
He and the two tour guides had been trying to catch a 400-pound Marlin for nearly an hour when they discovered that the engine room was filling up with water. Just minutes later, all four were in the ocean as the ship capsized.
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Much better: Kate and Dan Suski spoke to Good Morning America on Monday, a week after they swam to their survival after a fishing boat they were on in St Lucia capsized
Sign of life: After swimming for 14 hours to land, they had to spend the night in rural St Lucia and wait until they found someone to help them and call the police
Treatment: The Suskis were hospitalized and received IV fluids, with doctors concerned they couldn't draw blood from Kate Suski's arm because she was so dehydrated
Siblings relive 14-hour Open Water ordeal
See the full interview at ABC.com
'I don't know if I said it at the time but as soon as we hit ground I thought: "I can't believe we did it! I can't believe we made it!"' Kate told Good Morning America on Monday.
Kate, 39, said that they were floating in the water with the ship's captain and first mate when they all made the daring choice to head in towards land rather than waiting for a rescue team to find them.
'We could see land off in the distance and started swimming in that direction,' she said Monday.
'I felt anxious just sitting and waiting.'
'I was saying, "Let's swim, let's swim. If they're coming, they will find us. We can't just stay here,"' she recalled.
Safe at last: Siblings Dan, 30, and Kate Suski, 39, survived a harrowing shipwreck about 8 miles off shore when the fishing boat they were on during a vacation sunk
'Eventually we all decided together to start swiming in.'
In spite of their plan, they lost track of the captain and first mate, and the two siblings carried on together, trying to block out their mental images of the film Open Water, where two divers are left behind by a tour group and are killed by sharks as they wait for rescue teams.
'The biggest (fear) was when we didn't see land,' Dan, 30, said.
'It was completely surreal.'
Fighting off fear: They were concerned about hypothermia, dehydration, and sharks
Opening up: They said that they are thankful to be alive after the ordeal and don't blame anyone
'We would just see swells and gray,' Dan Suski said.
A plane and a helicopter appeared in the distance and hovered over the area, but no one spotted the siblings.
The group was at least eight miles (13 kilometers) from shore, and waves more than twice their size tossed them.
They swam for 12 to 14 hours, talking as they pushed and shivered their way through the ocean.
They continued on, fighting fears of hypothermia, dehydration, and sharks until they noticed a spit of sand nearby. When they got to land, they collapsed, barely able to walk. It was past midnight, and they didn't notice any homes in the area.
Survivors: Dan (pictured) and Kate were hospitalized and received IV fluids, with doctors concerned they couldn't draw blood from Kate Suski's arm because she was so dehydrated
Safe: The boat's captain and first mate, who were not named, were rescued 23 hours after the ship sank
They hiked inland and lay together, pulling up grass and brush to cover themselves and stay warm. Kate Suski had only her bikini on, having shed her sundress to swim better, and her brother had shed his shorts in order to increase mobility.
As the sun came up, they began to hike through thick brush, picking up bitter mangoes along the way and stopping to eat green bananas.
The Suskis were hospitalized and received IV fluids, with doctors concerned they couldn't draw blood from Kate Suski's arm because she was so dehydrated.
They also learned that the captain and mate were rescued after spending nearly 23 hours in the water, noting that their relatives called and took care of them after the ordeal.
Now back in America a week after their dramatic survival, Dan said that they were 'feeling pretty good, all things considered.'