PONCE DE LEON INLET, Fla. -- A 12-year-old autistic boy and his father were rescued after they were swept out to sea and forced to tread water for 15 hours in the Atlantic Ocean in what rescuers are calling a miracle.

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IMAGES: Father, Son Rescued

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Chris Marino, 12, was swimming near the Ponce de Leon Inlet over the weekend when he became caught in a current.

His father, Walter Marino, 46, spotted his son in trouble and jumped into the ocean and grabbed him.

The pair then drifted in some of Central Florida's most shark-infested waters.

"(We were) floating," Marino said. "We were floating and just waiting for help to come."

After 15 hours, some of which were in the dark overnight Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard spotted them floating 8 miles off Ponce de Leon Inlet.

"It is a miracle," the victim's sister Linda Richter said. "It definitely did not turn out the way we thought it would."

"The Coast Guard rocks," Walter Marino said as he was being transported to the hospital. "God bless the Coast Guard."

The Coast Guard was searching the water hoping to find the pair alive but feared the worst.

"I get chills just thinking about it," a Coast Guard official said. "It is a great day. They had a lot going against them. The seas were rough but through the night it started calming down and that must have helped them survive."

"Some times it does not turn out as well but you always hope for that one and today was that one," U.S. Coast Guard's Jorel J. Wester said.

Marino said he used a lighthouse to remain floating in the area for searchers.

"Without the Ponce Inlet lighthouse house we would not have found our way," Marino said.

Both were treated for dehydration but were expected to recover.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.