Ex-England cricket star's son and family rescued from Atlantic after whale attack

15 September 2022, 16:01 | Updated: 15 September 2022, 16:02

The son of a former England Cricketer, along with his daughters and partner, were rescued from their sinking boat after it was hit by a whale in the Atlantic Ocean.

Zachary Small, 33, was sailing back to the UK from the Azores with his family when their boat was hit by a whale during the night. Small, with his partner Kim Pelletier Girard, 29, his daughters Anua, eight, and Willow, five, and dog Nala, were left with a gaping hole in the side of their catamaran.

Small, the son of Ashes-winning fast bowler Gladstone Small, who played 17 tests for England between 1986 and 1991, battled alongside his partner to keep the boat afloat until they could be rescued.

Thankfully, a spotter plane and gas tanker arrived on the scene the next day, after changing course, to rescue the family.

The family were forced to leave all their personal belongings behind on the sinking boat, including the ashes of his late wife, and mother to his children, Rosie, who died three years ago from breast cancer.

Small, an experienced sailor, sold his house in France last year to buy and repair his dream boat, a Wadvogel38 catamaran. Since then, Small, a carpenter by trade, had been sailing with his family around the coast of Portugal.

The family left the Azores on August 31 to return to the UK. On the fourth night of their voyage, they heard a “loud bang, different from the usual bashes and bangs a catamaran makes as it moves through water”. Small’s partner, Kim, was catapulted out of bed and instantly knew something was wrong.

Water started to poor in beneath their bed at the bottom of the boat. Small moved the mattress and found a jagged piece of wood in the water. When he turned it over to inspect, Small found “a large chunk of dark grey skin with a thick layer of pink blubbery flesh”.

As water poured in and began to raise to waste height, Small hurried to activate the distress call, which is sent out to the nearest coastguard and any ship within a 6-10 mile range.

Small said: “it was at this point the horror of our situation and what might happen […] hit hard”.

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They grabbed their daughters out of bed, a container of food and water to last a few days, and quickly pumped up the dinghy.

With very limited room in the dingy, they had to contemplate cutting the throat of their dog, Nala, so she wouldn't suffer by drowning as the boat sunk.

Three hours after the boat began to sink, Small noticed the spotter plane in the clouds above. Small said he knew that it would take around 30 hours for a ship to reach them from Azores, so the family had to keep fighting to keep the boat afloat. If they were to get into the dinghy, it would be harder for their rescuers to find them.

Finally, at around 4.30am, the family saw the ship's light in the horizon, and their fears were put to bed. As their rescue ship approached, Small, his two daughters, his partner, and the family dog, soon scrambled into the dinghy to paddle towards the tanker.

Safe and sound after their traumatic ordeal, the family now live in Malvern, Worcestershire. Small has since launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for his family, and to replace lost work tools that had to be left behind on the boat.