FEATURE RELEASE: Strong enough: Coast Guardsman frees 2 trapped in sinking tugboat

12/14/2023 03:26 PM EST

The sun wasn’t yet up on March 31 at 5:15 a.m., but Chad Rollins was. He had been awake since 4 a.m. lifting weights in the otherwise empty gym at Coast Guard Station Sabine, a spacious complex nestled on the swampy edge of Sabine Pass, Texas. After working and sleeping at the station for the past two days, Rollins was ready to head home and see his wife, Parker, and 6-year-old daughter, Ellie — but not before finishing his workout and meeting with the oncoming crew. After racking the weights, Rollins relocated to the cardio room on the station’s fourth floor, shaking out his tired arms as he climbed the staircase. He maxed out the elevation on the treadmill and began briskly marching uphill, nudging the speed to 3 mph. The voice of David Draiman, lead singer of heavy metal band Disturbed, thundered through his earbuds, driving him onward through fatigue. Fifteen minutes down, fifteen to go. The music was loud, but not loud enough to drown out the search and rescue alarm, which blared suddenly to life.