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Rescue from icy water: shipwrecked sat on a buoy – in swimming trunks
Photo:
Toby Talbot/ AP
A shipwrecked man is said to have clung to a buoy in the English Channel for about two days after his kayak sank while crossing from England to France.
A fishing boat discovered and rescued the 30-year-old man on Thursday morning, the maritime prefecture in Calais said.
Because of his health, the man was flown by rescue helicopter from the fishing boat to the Boulogne hospital.
According to his own statements, the man had started his inflatable boat around 48 hours earlier on the British coast to cross the English Channel.
A Dutch seaman was on board the fishing trawler, who described the rescue operation to the public broadcaster NOS in the Netherlands.
On the buoy that marks a sandbank, he suddenly noticed movements and discovered the waving man in swimming trunks.
They approached the buoy with the ship and threw the man a lifebelt to get him on board.
The completely hypothermic Brit said that his boat capsized during the crossing.
While on the buoy, he said he kept himself alive by scraping clams off the buoy and eating crabs and seaweed.
Haven't slept for days
"We dried him off and warmed him up in the galley," said the Dutch seaman.
"He drank several liters of water in a very short time, he hadn't slept for days, his eyes were deep in their sockets." It was almost a miracle that they had discovered the adventurer on the buoy.
sol/dpa