Before Dying, Dad Saved Son on Capsizing Boat by Putting Him in a Cooler Box: ‘After a Little While, He Just Let Go’

The 13-year-old boy described the moment his father saved his life as their crab boat capsized

A 13-year-old boy, who was the only survivor of a boating accident off the California coast, is reflecting on how his father saved his life.

On Nov. 2, a 21-foot white Bayliner crab boat carrying three adults and three children — including teenager Juladi “Jude” Khammoungkhoune and his dad Prasong — was reported overdue after traveling off the coast of Bodega, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office previously reported.

The boat capsized, sending Jude and his family members scrambling to stay afloat, per a CBS Bay Area interview with Jude on Saturday, Nov. 15.

"It was already filled up in one side, and it was already too late before I noticed," the teen told the outlet, recalling the moment when he and the rest of the boat's passengers — including his 17-year-old brother, his uncle Johnny, Johnny's two sons and a family friend — realized that their vessel was quickly filling with water and was going to tip over in rough water.

Related: 13-Year-Old Survives Calif. Boat Accident That Killed a Teen, Left His Father and 3 Others Missing

"As soon as we were on our last equipment, we decided to just floor the boat," Jude added. "It was already kind of too late and the water was already forming inside. So, we just started flooring it a little bit until the equipment snapped. As soon as we kind of went a little bit faster, the boat just stopped working and we just went overboard with our life jackets on."

The teenager said that everyone either jumped into the ocean or tried to cling to the boat.

"I remember some of us splitting up in the water and some of us stayed on the boat like holding on," he recalled. "Some of us went different ways. Like me and my dad were on the cooler and some of us were split up."

Thanks to his father's quick thinking, Jude was quickly tucked inside of a cooler. Prasong held on to the cooler from the outside in an attempt to stay afloat, but Jude said his father let go of the cooler in hopes his son would reach shore sooner. 

But "after a little while, he just let go," Jude said, remembering his father's sacrifice

Jude recalled how he didn't know how long the ordeal lasted or where he was, he told CBS.

"I just thought about my family," he said. "I just decided to be smart about it and fall sleep and see what I got and just use it to get out of here."

Shanice, Prasong's older sister, told CBS that it was painful to hear about her brother making the decision to try and save his son.

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"That broke my heart," she said. "I mean to hear that he probably had to make a choice."

Shanice added to CBS that the family hosted a vigil on the shore of Bodega Bay, where the boat set off from more than two weeks ago, to honor the passengers who have died and those who are still missing.

Jude’s brother, identified by the sheriff's office as 17-year-old Johnny Phommathep II, was found dead after the incident. The missing passengers are presumed dead.

"Tomorrow's vigil is about allowing my brother's life, my cousin's life, my nephew's life to kind of find their way and just be set free and not trapped at wherever they're at," Shanice said.