Adrift Together 

There’s nothing like being stranded in the middle of the ocean to put wedding vows to the test. Edmond couple, Kim and Nathan Maker swam right past “sickness and health” and straight to “sink or swim” when they were left alone for 40 hours in the Gulf of Mexico following a scuba diving excursion gone awry. Their biggest takeaway from the harrowing experience? They wouldn’t have survived without each other. 

A Dive Unlike Any Other 

When they left the shores of Freeport, Texas, it was supposed to be just another dive to add to their list of five-hundred-and-something journeys into the deep. “The water was clear, but the current was fierce,” Kim recalled. Divers ahead of them had struggled, and as Kim and Nathan were ascending, another diver was pulled away from the line. “Nathan was able to grab her and pull her back to the rope, but in doing so, he lost his grip and was unable to get back.” 

Kim reached for him, and lost her grip as well. And from that moment, they were in it together. “We didn’t panic, we tethered ourselves together using some of our dive equipment, and we made a plan,” she recalled. “We’ve been in tough conditions before. Diving is what we love to do together.” 

Still, their experience wasn’t enough to fight the ocean. They inflated their buoy and waited. Ten hours passed. The boat searched but never found them. “I was in denial for the first half,” Kim said. “I thought, ‘They’ll come get us. No big deal.’ Even when the coast guard plane flew by, I thought, ‘That’s for us.’” 

Lost But Together 

As the sun set, worry crept in. “Nathan, the eternal optimist, did his best to keep things light,” Kim said. “We told jokes, sang songs from Sunday school as kids, told stories about our childhood, and planned the cocktails we’d make once we were home.” 

But things only became more bleak. Both Nathan and Kim experienced extreme illness and suffered from dehydration. A violent storm struck. Nathan experienced hallucinations. Swimming efforts became futile, and plane after plane passed them by. But Kim and Nathan are experts in spotting silver linings. 

“Even in the worst circumstances, we were able to really appreciate some aspects,” Kim said. “At one point we were swimming through bioluminescence. You would just run your hand through the water and it would light up.” She also shared what they called “their own personal Seaworld experience.” 

“A pod of maybe a dozen dolphins showed up. They were swimming around us and jumping. We were so depleted, and yet we were so happy in that moment.” 

These lighter memories help brighten the darker aspects of their experience. “We had already had the conversation on what we would do if one of us couldn’t make it,” Kim said. “We had a plan. We knew how we wanted things to go. It’s not a talk you imagine having, but we didn’t have a lot of hope at that point.” 

Night fell for a second time, and the couple heard what they thought was the last Coast Guard plane passing by. Then, they heard boats. They used their flashlights to send SOS signals, and finally – if a bit slower than seen in a blockbuster film – they were found. They were rescued 15 miles off the Texas coast. 

The details of the Makers’ time at sea and subsequent rescue could, and probably should, fill a book. There would be chapters on the survival choices that saved them, the heroes that rescued them, and the safety gear they say every diver should carry. But every page would carry the themes of true partnership and love. 

“I know for a fact I wouldn’t have survived without him,” Kim said. Nathan agreed, adding, “Life throws you curveballs, but if there’s one thing I know, it’s that we’re not giving up. Not on each other. Not ever.”