Funds are being raised by the community for the man who gave up his drone to locate stranded boaters on Utah Lake

Funds are being raised by the community for the man who gave up his drone to locate stranded boaters on Utah Lake

Lindon, Utah – Despite the fact that Stefan Ceciu visits Utah Lake quite infrequently, he chose to take his drone out for a flight there on the previous Saturday.

“I thought I would stop by the marina there, fly around a little bit and just enjoy the scenery,” Ceciu replied in response.

First responders began arriving at Lindon Marina little more than a few minutes after Ceciu had begun the process of preparing to take off.

“I thought I should ask the officer if I’m still allowed to take off given the emergency situation and he said, ‘Oh yeah, go for it, no worries at all,'” Ceciu recalled the event. “He approached me again a couple minutes later and asked what the range on my drones were.”

At that point, Ceciu claims that he was informed of the family of seven whose boat was gradually sinking somewhere between Lindon Marina and Saratoga Springs. The boat was taking on water.

“It was scary knowing that so many people were in danger in the water, and they couldn’t be reached or where they were,” Ceciu stated in response.

Ceciu allowed his drone to take flight in order to hunt for the family after he had spoken with officials who were present at the scene. According to the authorities, Ceciu located them approximately two and a half miles in and was able to provide the rescue employees with their GPS locations.

“I saw from about 400 feet up a block of what looked like a big piece of wood that was still, there wasn’t any water that was disturbed around it,” Ceciu explained to reporters. “I got closer and with each closer look it just felt like it was the family.”

Sadly, Ceciu’s drone did not make it back to the original location.

“I was getting warnings the battery is low, won’t reach back to its home point, and frankly I didn’t care,” Ceciu explained to reporters. “The fact that I was able to find the family and help secure their safety was way more rewarding than having that drone for another few days.”

The family was rescued by a number of people, including first responders, other boaters on the water, an off-duty Orem firefighter, and the family’s own life jackets. Ceciu was one of the many people that assisted the family.

I was just a man who happened to be at the right place at the right time and was eager to provide assistance despite the fact that it required him to step outside of his comfort zone. One need only be willing to assist one’s contemporaries in order to accomplish it, as Ceciu explained.

The replacement of Ceciu’s drone has prompted the creation of a GoFundMe campaign.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-replace-the-lost-rescue-drone