ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Rescuers in Florida say an autistic boy and his father survived 15 hours in shark-infested waters before the U.S. Coast Guard spotted them.

Chris Marino, 12, was swimming near the Ponce de Leon Inlet in Central Florida when the current carried him away, WKMB-TV in Orlando, Fla., reported Monday. The boy's father, Walter, 46, jumped into the water and both father and son were swept out to sea.


The television station says the two were drifting in some of Central Florida's most shark-infested waters.

"We were floating and just waiting for help to come," Walter Marino told WKMG. He said they kept a lighthouse in sight to remain floating in one area.

The pair was spotted by the Coast Guard early Sunday after 15 hours in the water.

"I get chills just thinking about it," a Coast Guard official told WKMG. "They had a lot going against them."

Father and son were treated for dehydration at a hospital.