AJAs 2024 Finalists
The Lucky 7
| Slug/Label | 240721 THE LUCKY 7 |
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| Date Aired or Published | July 21, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | NTV News |
| Name of Program: | NTV Sunday Evening Newshour |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | St. John's, NL |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 7 minutes, 5 seconds |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: The story of 'The Lucky 7' was one that captured the hearts of the whole province and country. On Wednesday, July 17, 7 fishermen from Newfoundland and Labrador were reported missing off the Northeast coast of the island. For a province that has lost too many fishermen to the harsh Atlantic, the news was devastating. Many feared the worst. Tirelessly, for two days, Gander's Search and Rescue Squadron searched the Atlantic Ocean with no sign of life. Then a miracle happened. After more than 50 hours floating in a life raft, the men, now known as The Lucky 7, were rescued. How they survived tells a remarkable story of resilience, bravery and hope. On Saturday July 20, the 7 fishermen were brought back to shore to meet their family, friends and loved ones. Now back on land, the crew could recount their horrors at sea. A fire erupted in the engine room of their fishing vessel, causing all crew to abandon ship in the middle of the night. Unable to contact land, nobody knew if they were dead or alive. But the good news spread fast. Happy tears and laughter echoed through this small rural community in Newfoundland and Labrador as the province collectively breathed a sigh of relief. They were back home, alive and well, which is exactly when I arrived in New-Wes-Valley to share their story of survival. It was this story that was shared with the nation, as CTV affiliates picked up the piece. Rarely, if ever, have seven men jumped into the unforgiving ocean and live to tell the story. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: This was not an easy story to tell, and a lot of work went into making it happen. I covered this story as a solo video journalist. I shot, wrote and edited this breaking news all on myself. We found out overnight Friday, July 19, that the seven fishermen were found alive. By morning (Saturday, July 20) when I got the news that they were coming back home, I knew we had to be there. The four hour drive to the tiny, isolated town was a race to catch ‘The Lucky 7’ as they were set to come onshore. With limited Wifi, no cell phone coverage and just a camera and a tripod, it was the story of a lifetime. The biggest of my career, so far. It was a Saturday so I was off work as well. Given that it was a weekend, it was also very hard to contact the mayor, and I didn't know anybody from there. After a number of calls, I finally got a hold of the Mayor who informed me the men were actually headed back to New-Wes-Valley as we speak. I jumped in my car and came right to NTV when I heard the surviving fishermen were en route back home. I gathered my gear up and hopped in a vehicle, headed for New-Wes-Valley. As I was driving there, the 7 fishermen were also en route to New-Wes-Valley via a boat transit with the Canadian Coast Guard. We touched down in New-Wes-Valley almost at the exact same time. As hundreds of people lined the wharf to greet 'The Lucky 7' home, you couldn't get anywhere near. I had to park well up the road and run down with my camera and tripod as fast as I could. Just as I reached the wharf, so did the fishermen. I got there just in time to capture some of the first hugs between loved ones and also talk to some of the crew members who just returned from living in a life raft for more than two days. With so many moving parts happening all at once - it was incredibly tough to shoot this with very little resources and without a camera operator. As this was a very emotional time, these men were trying to get back home. I only had a couple of minutes to get some interviews while also trying to shoot the important moments as they were happening (hugs, kisses, cheers). It was a tough get, trying to capture everything as a solo video journalist as it was all happening at once within the span of minutes. The dedication to get this story to air didn't end there. Now four hours away from NTV and no means of editing equipment with me, I had to make the travel back to town. After driving four hours to get there, and shooting everything I could possibly get, I drove another four hours back to St. John's while our team here made a plan to take this story live for our newscast the following evening (Sunday, July 21). It was then decided that a team from NTV would drive back to New-Wes-Valley in the morning to be out there live for our Sunday Evening Newshour. After driving back to St. John's that evening, I then worked through the night to write and edit this piece on my own in preparation for our newscast the next evening. We headed back to New-Wes-Valley early the next morning. A camera operator and engineer joined me for that trip, and a camera operator shot the live interview with Captain Eugene Carter following the story. This story was shot and completed in a 24 hour time frame that required extensive travel across the province to cover. I shot on Saturday July 20, and aired the following day Sunday, July 21. We were the first news station to have live coverage from New-Wes-Valley following the safe return home of 'The Lucky 7'. One of the biggest challenges here was trying to do a live broadcast as there was very little signal coverage in the area, as you can see from the submission we did have minor technical difficulties while live due to poor connection. |
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