A fundraiser is taking place for local boat captain Nisani “Biggs” Zuniga after his vessel capsized while trying to rescue two tourists who were in distress at the Hol Chan Marine Reserve.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, June 24th while Biggs was out snorkeling with family. When he noticed that two people were drifting further into the main channel due to the strong currents, he quickly left his family in the shallow area of the reserve and went to offer assistance to the distressed couple. Unfortunately, the turbulent waters caused his own vessel to flip over outside the reef. Luckily, Biggs and the couple were unharmed and only suffered minor bruises and cuts. However the same cannot be said for Biggs’ vessel, which, when recovered and brought to shore, was observed to have major cosmetic and structural damage.
Biggs is a local tour guide who depends on his vessel as his means of income, and repairing a vessel with that much damage is very costly. Thankfully, his valiant effort did not go unnoticed, as friends quickly came to his assistance. One such friend is Heather Beck, who has organized an online fundraising drive on YouCaring.com. “Biggs was the first guy I met on the island four years ago. We have been good friends ever since. I watched him build his business, including getting his boat and working on it. Now the boat has been destroyed. I just know how hard he has worked to get to where he is and what he has. It really upset me to see it all gone in a blink of an eye, especially when the situation included him saving lives. He deserves help to get back his life after saving others,” said Beck.
The online fundraiser will run until Saturday, August 2nd and is aimed to raise $10,000US. “The $10,000US will cover Captain Biggs to get right back to where he already was, a functioning boat and an amazing business,” said Beck. The fundraising is proving to be quite a success with more than $5,0000US raised at this time of print.
To make a donation visit http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/go-big-for-biggs-/196979. No donation is too small. “His kindness and abilities to connect to people is exactly what has helped him to grow his business. I just can’t imagine the ocean without Captain Biggs,” said Beck.
The San Pedro Sun thanks Biggs for his courageous act, and encourages other to assist him in his time of need.
Share
Read more
