HE SURVIVED 62 HOURS CLINGING TO AN OVERTURNED BOAT — THEN RESCUERS LEARNED WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS BROTHER AND COUSIN

15-year-old Derek Parker Aghnaanga was found alive after spending days on an overturned skiff in the freezing Bering Sea. What he told rescuers revealed the heartbreaking fate of the two people who had been with him.

For more than two days, 15-year-old Derek Parker Aghnaanga had only one thing keeping him alive: the overturned fishing boat he was desperately clinging to in the freezing waters of Alaska’s Bering Sea.

When rescuers finally spotted him, the teenager was alive — but suffering from hypothermia.

What they learned afterward made his survival even more heartbreaking.

Derek had not been alone when the small fishing skiff overturned.

His 35-year-old brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, and their 34-year-old cousin, Barton Rookok, had been with him on a halibut fishing trip near St. Lawrence Island.

Neither would make it home.

THE BOAT NEVER CAME BACK

The three had left the remote Alaska community of Savoonga on September 4 for a fishing trip.

They were expected back by about 3 a.m. on September 6.

But they never returned.

Authorities were alerted, and a search operation began as difficult weather conditions complicated the effort.

By Monday morning, a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft spotted something unusual in the water roughly four miles from St. Lawrence Island.

It was the overturned skiff.

And there was someone on top of it.

A person was alive.

It was Derek.

THEN CAME THE HORRIFYING REVELATION

According to Adam White, captain of the fishing vessel Northwest Explorer, Derek was still shivering violently when the crew reached him.

The teenager told rescuers that his brother was still beneath the overturned boat.

He also revealed that his cousin had slipped from the skiff during the previous night.

That meant Derek had spent hours alone on the exposed hull, surrounded by freezing water and darkness.

He had no food.

He had no water.

And he had no shelter.

Yet somehow, he kept holding on.

The water temperature was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit — about 10 degrees Celsius — and Derek was already showing signs of hypothermia when rescuers brought him aboard the Northwest Explorer.

“THAT KID WAS ON TOP OF THAT SKIFF”

Captain White later described the teenager’s endurance as extraordinary.

Derek had remained on the overturned boat from Saturday through Tuesday, enduring the cold and darkness while waiting for someone to find him.

The Coast Guard guided the nearby fishing vessel toward the location, and the crew eventually pulled the teenager aboard.

They wrapped him in blankets and kept him talking as they headed toward Nome, where he was reunited with his family and received medical attention.

TWO FAMILY MEMBERS DIDN’T SURVIVE

The rescue was a moment of enormous relief — but also profound grief.

Derek’s brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, was the captain of the skiff and became trapped beneath the overturned boat.

His cousin, Barton Rookok, initially survived the capsize but later disappeared into the Bering Sea during the night.

Both were later recovered.

Derek was the sole survivor of the fishing trip.

A FAMILY NOW FACING TWO LOSSES

For Derek’s family, the rescue brought both joy and heartbreak.

They had feared the worst after the three failed to return.

Instead, they received the extraordinary news that the 15-year-old had survived — while simultaneously learning that his older brother and cousin were gone.

Derek’s survival is being described as remarkable, especially given the cold water, lack of food and water, and the length of time he remained exposed on the overturned vessel.

A fundraising campaign has also been established to support the family and help with funeral expenses.

After 62 hours in the freezing Bering Sea, Derek was finally brought home.

He survived.

But he came back carrying the memory of two family members who never did.