A 15-year-old boy from Alaska, Derek Parker Aghnaanga, survived nearly 62 hours stranded on an overturned fishing boat in the icy waters of the Bering Sea after his older brother and cousin drowned. The incident occurred during a fishing trip near St. Lawrence Island, where Derek, his 35-year-old brother Sidney Kulowiyi, and 34-year-old cousin Barton Rookok had set out on September 4 to fish for halibut. They were expected to return to the island by about 3 a.m. on September 6 but never arrived. The boat capsized, and the two men tragically drowned, leaving Derek as the sole survivor. Derek was spotted by a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft on September 7 after Alaska State Troopers notified them the previous night that the group was overdue. However, the search was delayed due to thick fog. For days, Derek remained on the overturned skiff, exposed to freezing temperatures and rough waves, without food or water. Eventually, the Coast Guard called upon the Northwest Explorer, a fishing vessel with 13 crew members and scientists from NOAA, to assist in the rescue. The crew reached Derek and brought him aboard, where he was visibly suffering from the cold. According to Adam White, the captain of the Northwest Explorer, Derek had spent days on the skiff, enduring the elements with remarkable resilience. “That kid was on top of that skiff from Saturday all the way to Tuesday,” White said. Derek reportedly mentioned that his brother had been under the boat and that his cousin had slipped off the skiff the night before the rescue. His aunt, Colleen Walker, described the ordeal in a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with funeral expenses, noting that Derek had tried to hold on to his brothers as long as he could after they died. Derek’s older brother, Darren Toolie-Noongwook, shared that Derek had spent the night praying on the skiff, believing he would survive. The Coast Guard recovered the bodies of Sidney and Barton and transported them, along with Derek, to Nome. Derek has since been reunited with his family, and the rescue left a deep emotional impact on the crew of the Northwest Explorer. “When you look into a family member’s eyes... there's gratitude, but sorrow at the same time,” White said, acknowledging the emotional weight of the experience.