Boy, 7, fights for life after clinging to esky for hours

A young child is fighting for life in hospital after a six-hour ordeal in cold and rough waters when his father's fishing boat sunk off the Sunshine Coast.

SCARY: Two men and a child, 7, were rescued off Caloundra after a dramatic six-hour search which has left the little boy fighting for his life in hospital. Picture: ABC News

A YOUNG child is fighting for life in hospital after a six-hour ordeal in cold and rough waters when his father's fishing boat sunk off the Caloundra coast.

It was 1.40am yesterday morning when a 39-year-old man, who was on a weekend fishing trip with his 48-year-old mate and seven-year-old son, radioed for help.

The 5.2m boat quickly sunk, leaving the trio, who were not wearing life jackets to take turns holding the young boy out of the water, while they clung to an esky and tread water.

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Two men and a child, 7, were rescued off Caloundra after a dramatic six-hour search which has left the little boy fighting for his life in hospital. Picture: Contributed

Last night the boy was in an induced coma in the Sunshine Coast University Hospital with plans to fly him to a Brisbane hospital for specialised treatment if his condition doesn't improve.

The boat, named Gilly's Hammer, took on water just nine nautical miles (15km) from the Caloundra coastline, before capsizing.

Two men and a child, 7, were rescued off Caloundra after a dramatic six-hour search which has left the little boy fighting for his life in hospital. Picture: ABC News

Distress signals were sent to emergency services about 2am after the trio's five-metre boat capsized and rapidly took on water.

Authorities said the boat sank too quickly for the group to reach life jackets.

The boy was airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition, and was in an induced coma as of late yesterday.

Two men and a child, 7, were rescued off Caloundra after a dramatic six-hour search which has left the little boy fighting for his life in hospital. Picture: ABC News

The men, aged 39 and 48, were also treated for hypothermic shock.

The rescue crews ran into difficulty and were unable to locate the vessel's GPS signal.

But as the search reached its sixth hour, Brisbane-based helicopter Rescue 500 found the group just before 8am after they were spotted by crews of an anchored tanker.

Rescue 500 crewman Bruce Fairlie said once he was winched down it was "like clockwork".

Two men and a child, 7, were rescued off Caloundra after a dramatic six-hour search which has left the little boy fighting for his life in hospital. Picture: ABC News

"They were just floating in the water, and very cold," Mr Fairlie said. "It's hard when you are looking for people in the water with a very small target area."

Queensland Ambulance Service Senior Operations Supervisor Kristy MacAlister said all three were very fortunate to be found.

"Having been in the water for several hours, it is very lucky they were found when they were," she said.

"It's always a delicate operation when you're winching a patient up with hypothermia.

"As you winch them, the wind temperature can decrease the body temperature further."

Coastguard Caloundra volunteers were out scouring "challenging" waters off Caloundra since the crack of dawn before the "relieving" call came in.

Deputy commander Kevin Wager counted nine rescue boats and two helicopters on the water.

"The three hadn't drifted very far, but it is quite difficult to pick people up in the water. The conditions were really choppy," Mr Wager said.

"The water temperature was about 21C, so not freezing but it would not have been good for a child."

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