Long Island Family Survives After Fishing Boat Cut In Half In Boating Accident

BALDWIN HARBOR, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island family is lucky to be alive after their fishing boat sank when it was rammed by a bigger boat, throwing them into choppy waters.

TV 10/55 Long Island Bureau Chief Richard Rose reported Jordan Sullivan and his family narrowly survived being killed by an oncoming bat that cut their fishing boat in half in South Shore waters.

"I remember I stood up and my niece stood up and I was like, 'Hello, you're going to hit us.' I don't remember much after that," said Sullivan of Baldwin Harbor.

Sullivan said the driver of the other boat complained he couldn't see them because of the sun's glare. She still panics at the memory of her 1-year-old daughter Francesca struggling to stay above the waves.

"My daughter swallowed a lot of water. She's only 1, so that was really scary," Sullivan said. "I just remembered somebody lifted me with my life jacket when I was holding the baby."

Everyone was wearing their life jackets, but Sullivan's 10-year-old niece, Reyna Atkinson, still struggled to stay afloat.

"I really thought that this is it, I'm not going to make it out of this, but I did," Reyna said.

Sullivan said she never feared anything like this, having often gone out to sea in her father's boat. Her father, Michael Sullivan, is glad rescuers were able to pluck them out of the water.

"The Coast Guard, the Nassau County Police and Harbor Patrol, were about as professional and caring as I could want them to be," he said.

The family suffered from some serious bumps and bruises and Jordan Sullivan has neck pain, but they all know it could've been worse.

"My boat is at the bottom of the water, bottom of the ocean, along with my phone, too," she said.

The Nassau Marine Patrol said that after an inspection, the driver of the other boat was ticketed for not having a fire extinguisher.