WILTON (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- The mother of an El Faro crew member recently received a life ring from the ill-fated ship her son served on.
Deb Roberts' son, Michael Holland, served on the cargo ship El Faro. The ship sank during a voyage to Puerto Rico in 2015 when it encountered Hurricane Joaquin. All 33 crew members perished.
Through some combination of coincidence and fate, Roberts was given an orange life ring from the ship that washed ashore in the Bahamas years ago. A husband of one of Roberts' coworkers knows a man who found the ring.
"It's unbelievable. It's hard to even explain. I tell everyone there's like an aura around this thing, I swear to God. It's a really big piece of Mike and the entire El Faro crew and it means so much to me be the keeper of it. Not just for Mike, but for all the other 32 crew members too," Roberts said.
Roberts is holding a fundraiser on Saturday, August 11 at Spruce Mountain High School to help restore the school's athletic facilities.