Elvis Francois, 47, a Dominican national, was rescued by the Colombian navy after 24 days adrift alone in the ocean.
According to this man, in December last year, while repairing a sailboat near the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean, suddenly bad weather came and he was swept out to sea.
Without any maritime knowledge, Mr. Elvis lost his way and got lost at sea. All attempts to control the ship and support equipment were in vain. The 47-year-old man also tried using his phone to call for help, but his cell phone lost signal.
Medical staff check on Mr. Elvis after the man was rescued (Image: AFP).
At one point, Brother Elvis almost fell into a state of despair. He wrote the word “Help” on the hull of the boat, in the hope that a nearby ship could see and help.
“I didn’t have any food on board except for a bottle of ketchup, garlic powder and broth balls. I mixed them with some water as food to last 24 days,” he recalls.
After the rescue, the Colombian navy handed over Mr. Elvis to the Colombian immigration authorities to coordinate and bring him home safely.
When Mr. Elvis’s boat drifted to the waters of La Guajira, northern Colombia, he tried to wave when he saw other boats passing by, even lighting a fire on board, but no one noticed. To keep the ship from sinking, he often had to slap water.
“On January 15, when I thought there was no hope, I suddenly saw a plane passing by. I had a mirror and used it to signal by rotating the mirror to reflect the sun. They flew over the boat twice, so I think they saw it. Thanks to that, I was saved,” Mr. Elvis described.
After that, the crew on the plane called an ambulance to report the situation to the Colombian navy. They rescued Brother Elvis with the help of a merchant ship.
“24 days alone floating in the ocean, no one to talk to, not knowing where I am and what to do. Everything was difficult. During that time, I felt hopeless but always thought of my family. family,” he said.
A deserted island off the coast of Jio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the man was washed away by the waves (Image: Alamy).
It is known that this is not the only rare case of survival. Previously, in August 2022, the international media and public opinion was stirred up by the case of a Brazilian man who fell into the sea and swept away on a deserted island, having to endure for nearly a week with only 2 lemons. .
Finally, when he was trying to hold on to life, he suddenly saw a few tourists surfing on jet skis near the island, so he waved his shirt high to attract attention. Thanks to that, he was rescued and reunited with his family.