{"id":275721,"date":"2026-05-18T21:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/275721\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:59:08","slug":"2-children-mother-hurt-in-2025-memorial-day-boat-blast-reunite-with-first-responders-who-saved-their-lives-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/275721\/","title":{"rendered":"2 children, mother hurt in 2025 Memorial Day boat blast reunite with first responders who saved their lives – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Two young children who were hurt in a boat explosion last year o<\/a>n<\/a> Memorial Day <\/a>got the chance to meet the first responders who saved their lives. <\/p>\n

Eight-year-old Anthony, his 6-year-old brother Kash, and their family met with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you. If it wasn\u2019t for you there at the dock, I don\u2019t know,\u201d said burn victim Cassandra Rivera.<\/p>\n

The boys, along with their parents, were on a friend\u2019s 39-foot boat for the holiday weekend in 2025 when an explosion ignited along the intracoastal. In total, 11 people were injured. The boat\u2019s driver did not survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good engine cut out, and then we couldn\u2019t turn any engines on. The captain was trying, and the last thing I think I heard was \u2018I smell fuel, I smell fuel,\u2019 and a ball of fire just erupted in the boat,\u201d said Rivera.<\/p>\n

Anthony had 85% of his body burned, while Kash suffered nearly 50% of his body burned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t the outcome we were told. We were told to plan multiple funerals for our children, and by the grace of God, family, support, everything, we\u2019re all here, and I have my superheroes for life,\u201d said Rivera.<\/p>\n

The emotional reunion came at the start of National Boating Safety. Those at the event urged boaters planning to go out on the water this holiday weekend to be safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so incredibly important to make sure that you go through precautionary measures every single time before you leave the dock,\u201d said FLFR Chief Stephen Gollan.<\/p>\n

Rivera said she never thought something like that would happen to her and her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety, safety, safety. I\u2019ve been boating my whole life. Did I ever think it would happen to me and my family? Absolutely not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the tragic incident is a reminder of how fast something can go wrong and how close her family came to losing it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see them walking out and living their lives as boys is incredible,\u201d said Rivera.<\/p>\n

Since the blast, Rivera wrote a children\u2019s book titled \u201cWhen the Boat Met a Flame\u201d that details what occurred and stresses to the audience to always be cautious and aware before heading out on the water.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Two young children who were hurt in a boat explosion last year on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-275721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}