Rob Konrad: 'I shouldn't be here'
— -- Former Miami Dolphins fullback Rob Konrad said Monday that he was stung by jellyfish and circled by a shark during his 16 hours in the water last week as he swam to safety after falling off his recreational boat in the Atlantic Ocean near South Florida.
Konrad, who was hospitalized from Thursday until Sunday to treat hypothermia and dehydration, held a news conference Monday to recount his epic story of survival after he fell off his 36-foot boat, calling it a "boater's nightmare" that was "beyond terrifying."
"I shouldn't be here," he told reporters, estimating that he covered 27 miles in the water in part due to a current that drifted him north of his original location.
Konrad had gone fishing alone Wednesday after being dropped off at a Boca Raton dock. Friends became concerned after he didn't meet them for dinner, and the Coast Guard later sent a helicopter to look for him.
The 38-year-old Konrad said his boat was on autopilot, so he was unable to reach it after he fell off at 12:30 p.m. ET. He didn't make it to Palm Beach until 4:30 a.m., when he contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. He said he was too weak to walk when he initially got to shore but eventually was able to get the attention of an off-duty police officer.
He said he believed he had two shots at rescue after falling into the water.
"At one point, as I swam into the night, there was a fishing boat, a recreational fishing boat, about 50 yards away. I tried to flag down the boat. It didn't work out," he told reporters, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "A little bit later on, I saw the Coast Guard [helicopter]. They were out, searching the water. At that point in time, came right over the top of me. They had lights on me, kept going. That was a difficult time.
"I realized at that point I was on my own."
Konrad said he used thoughts of his wife, Tammy, who was at the news conference with him Monday, and his two daughters, ages 8 and 10, as inspiration to make it back to shore. His wife said Konrad's daughters were "two angels on his back" during his swim.
"After some time I just said, 'Look, I'm not dying tonight. I'm going to make it to shore,'" he told reporters.
The emotional news conference lasted approximately 20 minutes.
After playing four years at Syracuse, Konrad was drafted by the Dolphins in 1999 and played for the team until 2004.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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