Incredible moment father and son team save six people battling chopping waves after boat sank on Florida lake

Published: 02:07, 7 May 2026 | Updated: 02:29, 7 May 2026 Dramatic body camera and aerial footage caught the moment a father and son duo helped save six people from a sinking boat in Florida. Officer Michael MacDonald and his son Shane MacDonald from the St. Cloud Police Department sprang into action on Saturday when they received a distress call about a family of six who were onboard a boat sinking about two miles from shore at East Lake Tohopekaliga, WSVN reports.  The Osceola County Sheriff's Office quickly deployed its STAR helicopter unit, it said. Meanwhile, the MacDonalds hopped on a patrol boat amid dangerous conditions created by an impending storm. 'We hopped in the boat, crew flew across the lake,' Michael recounted.  'We were trying to get them out of the boat as soon as we could before we had tragedy on our hands.'  St Cloud Police Officers Michael MacDonald and Shane MacDonald raced to the scene of a sinking boat about two miles from shore at East Lake Tohopekaliga Body camera footage showed Michael reaching over the side of the boat to help grab some of those onboard By the time the MacDonalds reached the boat, the bow was completely submerged and two people could be seen already in the water In the MacDonalds' body camera footage from the daring rescue, one of the officers onboard the patrol ship could be heard saying, 'Let's get 'em,' before they approached the sinking vessel.   By then, the bow was almost completely submerged, and two people could be seen already in the water.  Body camera footage then showed Michael reaching over to grab the boat as they drifted parallel to it, while others inside the boat lifted the occupants of the sinking boat onto the rescue ship. Along with the St Cloud Fire Rescue and a good Samaritan who jumped into help, the MacDonalds were able to get all six passengers back to shore, where they were checked out by first responders who determined that none of the boaters were seriously injured.  'When it came down to it, our training really kicked in, and we can take care of what we have to do,' said Shane. 'Everything was phenomenal that day and worked out perfectly,' Michael added, saying it was a privilege to be able to watch his son in action.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.