Grandmother swept out to sea after posing for photo on iceberg throne
Judith Streng, 77, rescued by coast guard after makeshift seat carried away from shore of lagoon
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Your support makes all the difference.A 77-year-old grandmother had to be rescued after the throne-shaped iceberg she was posing on for a photo drifted out to sea during her holiday in Iceland.
Judith Streng, from Texas, was visiting the Jökulsárlón Lagoon with her son when they came across the chunk of frozen water shaped like a throne on the beach.
Moments after Ms Streng climbed on top of the iceberg to pose for a photo, the makeshift seat was carried away from the shore by a large wave.
“When I got on it, it started to totter and a wave was coming in,” Ms Streng told ABC News. “A very large wave came in and kind of made the throne kind of rock, and I could tell that I was slipping off.”
On Monday, Ms Streng's granddaughter, Christine, posted the texts and photos her father sent after the ordeal on 26 February. Each photo shows Ms Streng drifting further and further away from the camera.
“Lost her kingdom when she drifted out to see! [sic]” Christine's father texted her. He added: “No joke. A coast guard rescuer had to save her and bring her back to shore!”
Photos of the grandmother's nautical adventure had garnered 66,000 retweets by Friday evening.
She told ABC News that her rescuer was Randy Lacount, a boat captain from Florida who witnessed her float away. He did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday evening.
“I thought it was safe,” Ms Streng told ABC. “One girl had been on it and then two girls at the same time, and it was very secure with them. But I don't weigh very much. So it was a little easier to float off with me, I guess.”
On her choice to sit on the throne, she told the network: “You know, I always wanted to be a queen. I mean, come on, that was my chance.”
Ms Streng returned to the US on Monday and is recuperating from her trip, her granddaughter told the Washington Post. While she was not available for interview, Ms Streng relayed to her granddaughter that she's “glad people are getting a kick out of her story”.
“Being so popular is wild,” she added.
Washington Post
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