8-Year-Old Hero Shares Story of Saving 3 Lives

EAST MARION, NY - John Agosta, 8, had quite a story to share with his third grade class at Our Lady of Mercy in Cutchogue Thursday morning.

John, his father Sal, and uncle Kevin Quarty were heroes after saving a dad and his daughter, 5, and son, 9, when their boat began taking on water in Peconic Bay off Shipyard Lane Wednesday night.

And now, in his own words, John describes how it felt to save three lives: "We were coming down here to the water, to see the new canvas on my uncle's boat and he heard the air horn, and my dad heard screaming," John said.

At first, they thought maybe the sounds were coing from kids playing, he said. "Then my dad said he saw something sinking. We ran and got on the boat and we rode out there."

The experience, John said, "was both scary and exciting. We threw them a rope, and all they kept saying was 'Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,'" he said.

The man was holding his daughter and they were all clinging to a floating cooler, John said.

John and his dad and uncle asked the dad where they were from and he told them Nassau County, John said. The trio had been in the water for about 15 minutes, John said.

The three boarded the boat and Agosta headed to Gull Pond; they had some difficulty moving in reverse so the boat drifted in to the dock, John said.

"I got them towels and water," John said. "They kept saying 'Thank you, thank you so much,' it was as though those were the only words they knew."

The little girl, he said, didn't want to get off the boat, where she was safely wrapped in a warm towel.

John said what upset him about the whole experience was hearing that another boat had could possibly have passed by the stranded family and not stopped to help.

"The man had a flair and an air horn and the kids were screaming, 'help,'" he said.

John's grandmother, Linda Goldsmith, said while it's unclear who heard the screams for help, all three of her loved ones worked together. "I'm really proud of them," she said.

Her grandchildren, she said, have been taught at an early age to always wear their life jackets, she said.

And while heroism runs in the family, she said if the situation were reversed, "If something happens to them, you hope people would be around to help. That's all you have to hope for. They were just walking down the beach and look what happened. They were in the right place at the right time."

Her grandson, she said, told her the sinking boat "looked like the Titanic, when it was going down."

According to Southold Town Police,the rescue took place at 7:45 p.m. in Peconic Bay off Shipyard Lane when Gerlin Polanco, 36, of Westbury said he was returning from a fishing trip with his two children when his 20-foot boat began taking on water to the stern.

Polanca said he lost power in the engine and the vessel eventualy capsized from the water it took on. The three on the beach heard the subjects screaming in the water and Agosta contacted the police.

Southold Town Police responded to the scene; the United States.Coast Guard, Southold Town Police's marine division and the East Marion Fire Department's marine unit also were advised and responded, police said.

Agosta responded in his own boat and the three threw a rope, pulled all three subjects from the water and transported them to Klipp Park in Greenport, police said.

The subjects were transported from there by East Marion Fire Department Rescue to Eastern Long Island Hospital for evaluation, police said. The vessel was towed by Douglas Marine, police said.

According to East Marion resident Goldsmith, her son-in-laws Agosta and Quarty were walking on the beach at the end of Shipyard Lane, toward Maple Lane at about 8 p.m. where Agosta moors his boat, when they heard screaming in the water.

The trio saw a boat sinking out in the water and sprang into action.

When they got back to shore, ambulances were waiting at the scene.

Her grandson, Goldsmith said, is "so excited, because he saved someone."

As for her son-in-law Agosta, Goldsmith said it's not the first time he's rescued someone stranded; he saved a child from drowning in a swimming pool once and also rescued someone who'd fallen off a dock in East Hampton, she said.

The stars were aligned for the save, Goldsmith said; if they'd had her other grandson, 4, or their new puppy, it wouldn't have been as easy to just jump into the boat and head to the rescue. "It was a good set of circumstances," she said.