Man Rescued Off Cape May Coast Speaks

Cape May, NJ--(WTXF)--It was a dramatic Coast Guard rescue 45 miles off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey.

Read More: Man Falls Overboard in Cape May, Rescued by Coast Guard

FOX 29 first brought you this incredible story of survival Sunday night. Now the man who stayed afloat without a life preserver for 4 hours is speaking out about what he did before help arrived.

45-year-old Damian Sexton of Williamstown lost his footing and fell off his boat Saturday night. Sexton says the vessel's "auto-pilot" made it impossible for him to get back on board. Despite heavy rain and strong winds, Sexton says he treaded water and swam 10 miles to reach a cargo ship in the distance. That freighter plucked him out of the water until the coast guard arrived. He had a lot of motivation to stay alive.

"My family, my wife, and my kids, I could just picture their sorrow and their grief with me being gone and I knew it would ruin their lives. And I love them too much for them to go through that, so I just kept going. I didn't stop, I didn't give up, and I don't know where I got the strength. I don't know how I did it, but I made it," he told FOX 29.

Sexton says a coordinated effort between the Coast Guard, the freighter and the friend on his boat also helped save his life.