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PLEASANT VIEW, Weber County — A week after a tragic accident took the lives of four people, two 13-year-old girls are sharing their story about how they struggled to survive the frigid waters of Bear Lake after their boat capsized.
Tiffany Stoker and Tylinn Tilley say their faith helped get them through the ordeal. On that fateful night on the lake, they say it was their own hope and friendship that kept them alive.
“We’re unbreakable. We can’t be separated,” Tylinn said.
At times they seem more like close sisters, partly because of what they endured together. It was supposed to be a fun trip with several friends and their mothers, but things changed quickly.
They were on the boat June 1 with Lance Capener, 45, of Pleasant View, his wife, Kathryn, 45, and their daughters, Kelsey, 13, and Kilee, 7, along with another friend, Siera Hadley, 13, of Harrisville.
They say the storm came in fast with no warning. At first, Lance Capener tried to bring the boat to shore, but waves as high as 10 feet kept pushing against them.
“Then we hit three big waves, and then the water just came in," Tylinn said, "and it just piled on top of us, and we were just kind of like gasping for air. Then we saw the boat started to tip, and so we all knew that we had to jump before the boat tipped on top of us, because our life jackets would keep us up under the boat.”
Getting out of the boat was a miracle, Tiffany said.
“I really don’t know even know how I jumped that far," she said, "so we think that someone was there to lift us out of the boat. And when we popped up out of the water, we were really far away from the boat. And there’s no way that we could have jumped that far, so we really think that we were having help from the other side at that point.”
“I had little Kilee next to me, and so when I got on back of the boat, I turned around and saw her and picked her up by the life jacket and threw her out and then jumped in with her,” Tylinn said. “But there’s no way I would have been able to throw Kilee that far, so there’s definitely people with us.”
I had little Kilee next to me, and so when I got on back of the boat, I turned around and saw her and picked her up by the life jacket and threw her out and then jumped in with her. But there's no way I would have been able to throw Kilee that far, so there's definitely people with us.
–Tylinn, survivor
At first, they were happy because the boat flipped and they were fine and they didn’t get stuck under.
"But then everything just kind of sunk in that there’s no way to get help. All the phones were under with the boat,” Tiffany said.
Lance Capener tried to keep the group together. They started to say a group prayer and singing “I Am a Child of God,” Tiffany said.
“That's when Siera was like, 'We gotta swim. We just gotta swim,'" she said. "And she just starts freaking out because she just had this instinct that we need to swim to shore, like we need to get help right now."
Four of the girls started swimming together toward the shore, but after swimming for a while, Siera and Kelsey decided they wanted to go back to the boat.
Tiffany and Tylinn treaded water for hours on the lake. They would scream prayers at each other because they couldn’t hear each other.
“We would get so cold that we would just have to hold on to each other,” Tiffany said.
They said they thought they may be in the lake all night, and then they were rescued.
“The rescue boat came by, and we were just screaming and yelling, and we were actually like so excited to see them,” Tylinn said. “They said we were holding onto each other with one arm and swimming with the other.”
The two girls were treated at Logan Regional Hospital for severe hypothermia and released the next day.
“If she wasn’t there, I don’t know if there was any chance of making it,” Tylinn said, almost in tears.
“Even for me and Tylinn, we’ve had so much support from people that we didn’t even know that cared about us and loved us,” Tiffany said.
Kathryn Capener was taken to Logan Regional Hospital for treatment.
Lance Capener and his daughters, Kelsey and Kilee, and Siera Hadley died in the accident.
Two separate accounts have been set up in Siera's name. A GoFundMe account was set up by her family. Donations can also be made at America First Credit Union under Siera K. Hadley's name to help pay for funeral expenses.
Accounts were also set up for the Capener family at www.anythingforafriend.com. and GoFundMe.
Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc
