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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Jennifer Kelly

Aired June 08, 2003 - 09:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-three-year-old Jennifer Kelly says that's how she made it through her ordeal. A Coast Guard helicopter pulls her to safety, on Wednesday, more than 24 hours after she was stranded in the Tampa Bay. Just a remarkable story -- Kelly says she was trying to kayak -- sort of a novice kayaker -- trying to kayak down a river when a storm started kicking up the waves and wind. Her kayak subsequently capsized and wound up clinging to the only thing she could, a channel marker. She was finally spotted by a couple in a boat who couldn't get close enough, but called the Coast Guard.
She joins us now, by phone with more on her remarkable rescue. First of all, welcome back, glad you're doing well.

JENNIFER KELLY, SURVIVOR: Thank you me, too.

GUPTA: Give us a sense of what happened to you. What was going on, what exactly happened out there?

KELLY: Trying to -- trying to stay ahead of the storm, the bay out here can be very rough and unfortunately, once I had gotten there, between the storm and the bay's natural inclinations, the waves had gotten very high and there was just -- wasn't much I could do besides trying to stay afloat.

GUPTA: You know, it does look -- such a scary situation, especially when it starts to get into an uncontrollable sort of situation. Despite all that, was there a time when you thought you might not make this; you weren't going to be able to get to the marker that you subsequently -- where you were found?

KELLY: There were very brief moments swimming to the navigation aid, simply because it was so far away and it took me as long as it did to get there, but they were very brief. I had a lot of faith.

GUPTA: How far did you end up swimming from the capsized kayak to where you were subsequently found?

KELLY: I believe it was about a mile, it took me about an hour. However, I had the kayak with me, so it took me a little bit longer.

GUPTA: So, you were sort of hanging onto it and swimming at the same time. We can see pictures of you there actually being lifted up. That must have been an exciting ride, there being lifted out of the water and subsequently being flown to a hospital. What was the biggest concern for the doctors when you got to the hospital? KELLY: I believe it was probably dehydration, because I had been in such intense sun that they were very worried about dehydration and getting me rehydrated quickly.

GUPTA: Right. Now listen, you're pretty novice at this. You know, a lot of people aren't that familiar with kayaking, they actually --- you actually went out into the Tampa bay, which is a pretty big bay, lots of choppy water -- was that something you're going to do again or is this -- this, sort of, keep you off kayaks for a while?

KELLY: Oh, no. The only thing that will keep me away from kayaks is having to buy a paddle and my mother. I would like to paddle across the bay, that was a goal that I set for myself just paddling out in the river one day, I saw something across the bay, I said, "I want to get there." I would definitely still like to do so once I've recovered.

GUPTA: OK. Well, glad you're safe and glad you're doing well. You sound well. Thank you so much for joining us and keep kayaking, all right?

KELLY: I shall, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 8, 2003 - 09:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-three-year-old Jennifer Kelly says that's how she made it through her ordeal. A Coast Guard helicopter pulls her to safety, on Wednesday, more than 24 hours after she was stranded in the Tampa Bay. Just a remarkable story -- Kelly says she was trying to kayak -- sort of a novice kayaker -- trying to kayak down a river when a storm started kicking up the waves and wind. Her kayak subsequently capsized and wound up clinging to the only thing she could, a channel marker. She was finally spotted by a couple in a boat who couldn't get close enough, but called the Coast Guard.
She joins us now, by phone with more on her remarkable rescue. First of all, welcome back, glad you're doing well.

JENNIFER KELLY, SURVIVOR: Thank you me, too.

GUPTA: Give us a sense of what happened to you. What was going on, what exactly happened out there?

KELLY: Trying to -- trying to stay ahead of the storm, the bay out here can be very rough and unfortunately, once I had gotten there, between the storm and the bay's natural inclinations, the waves had gotten very high and there was just -- wasn't much I could do besides trying to stay afloat.

GUPTA: You know, it does look -- such a scary situation, especially when it starts to get into an uncontrollable sort of situation. Despite all that, was there a time when you thought you might not make this; you weren't going to be able to get to the marker that you subsequently -- where you were found?

KELLY: There were very brief moments swimming to the navigation aid, simply because it was so far away and it took me as long as it did to get there, but they were very brief. I had a lot of faith.

GUPTA: How far did you end up swimming from the capsized kayak to where you were subsequently found?

KELLY: I believe it was about a mile, it took me about an hour. However, I had the kayak with me, so it took me a little bit longer.

GUPTA: So, you were sort of hanging onto it and swimming at the same time. We can see pictures of you there actually being lifted up. That must have been an exciting ride, there being lifted out of the water and subsequently being flown to a hospital. What was the biggest concern for the doctors when you got to the hospital? KELLY: I believe it was probably dehydration, because I had been in such intense sun that they were very worried about dehydration and getting me rehydrated quickly.

GUPTA: Right. Now listen, you're pretty novice at this. You know, a lot of people aren't that familiar with kayaking, they actually --- you actually went out into the Tampa bay, which is a pretty big bay, lots of choppy water -- was that something you're going to do again or is this -- this, sort of, keep you off kayaks for a while?

KELLY: Oh, no. The only thing that will keep me away from kayaks is having to buy a paddle and my mother. I would like to paddle across the bay, that was a goal that I set for myself just paddling out in the river one day, I saw something across the bay, I said, "I want to get there." I would definitely still like to do so once I've recovered.

GUPTA: OK. Well, glad you're safe and glad you're doing well. You sound well. Thank you so much for joining us and keep kayaking, all right?

KELLY: I shall, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com