Angels on the Hudson

You never know when your number is going to be up. And in the same respect, you never know when a guardian angel will be looking over your shoulder. Early Wednesday morning, a boatload of guardian angels came to the rescue of four people who were nearly killed when a cargo ship slammed into their speedboat.

Daniel Rechelbacher was enjoying a late-night dinner cruise with friends along New York’s Hudson River when the scene quickly turned harrowing. The group noticed a black cargo boat speeding along the water headed straight for their white speedboat.

Panicked, Rechelbacher, one friend and the boat captain, hurriedly jumped into the river just before the ship slammed into the side of the ship — then sped away. Another one of Rechelbacher’s friends did not jump into the river and received several cuts and bruises upon impact.

"It was pretty f---ing scary. It was coming up on us so fast," Rechelbacher told the New York Daily News, and described the hit and run ship as 250 feet long and 50 feet tall with no lights on.

After impact, Rechelbacher and his crew nervously clung to what was left of the boat, worried about their next move ... which is exactly when our heroes swooped in and saved the day.

Avram Ludwig was on board his sailboat with friends Elisa Pugliese, Mel Hook Shahbazian and three others, when they witnessed the terrifying crash. After the cargo ship sped off, Ludwig sailed closer to the victims and encouraged them to swim over to their boat.

What happened next?

"We pulled them out of the water." Ludwig's friend Pugliese, explained to the News. "We were their only hope."

Ludwig sailed the rescued boaters to a Manhattan pier, where they were treated at a local hospital and quickly released — slightly dazed, but grateful.

“They’re angels,” Rechelbacher said of the folks who pulled him and his friends out of the water.

We wholeheartedly agree.

Photo courtesy of Hope via stock.xchang