By Kenny Heath
JONES BAY – John Cullember has had a tuff life. After years of struggling, he finally put enough money together to buy a small commercial fishing boat so he could try and make a living. With all his money tied up into buying, repairing and outfitting this boat, a tragedy happened on Tuesday, Nov. 2. He picked the boat up from having the hull repaired, and was driving it back down the Pungo River and started taking on water. There was enough water coming in that the bilge pump couldn’t keep up. His phone was on 4 percent battery. Almost dark, he managed to get thru to the Coast Guard. He bailed water for many hours until it was hopeless. The boat sank, with John on top of the cabin – detached from the hull. The Coast Guard was unable to locate him that night but luckily he was spotted about 9am Wednesday, Nov. 3. They hoisted him up into the helicopter and transported him to the hospital where he was treated for hypothermia. John spent his life savings of about 15k trying to start a business that would provide for himself and soon-to-be family. Please visit GoFundMe.com and search for “Build John’s Boat Back.” Thank you so much for any and all donations.
