The heroic moments of the passenger who fell from the cruise ship and survived 20 hours in the water (USCG)
Almost two decades ago, the horror thriller "Sea of Fear" (Open Water) was released, telling the true story of a couple who went on a diving vacation and were accidentally abandoned in a shark-infested area in the heart of the Atlantic Ocean.
James Michael Grimes found himself in a similar situation and had to fight for his life in the heart of the ocean for 20 hours, during which he ate bamboo and fought jellyfish in a shark-infested area.
James fell off a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico after consuming alcohol, and he shared an exclusive interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" about how he survived in the deep water for almost an entire day, battling sea creatures and repeatedly passing out due to exhaustion.
It was November 23, the night before Thanksgiving, when a passenger on the Carnival Valor lost consciousness and found himself at sea.
He claims that he was not drunk but he does not remember how one moment he was on the deck - and the next moment he was floating in the middle of the sea.
The next 20 hours of his life were a struggle for survival in which he refused to lose hope.
"It was around 11:00 p.m. when I told my sister I was going to the bathroom. I suddenly lost consciousness and came back to being in the water, with no ship in sight," James told ABC. The voyage left from New Orleans to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean, and passed through Gulf of Mexico.
For the next nearly 20 hours, James described how he remained afloat in the water without any help, using only the movements of his arms and legs, fighting for his life.
He encounters jellyfish and another unidentified marine creature with a fin.
"It came up in my direction really fast and I dived down. I could see it. It wasn't a shark, at least I don't think it was," said James, "It had a flat mouth. It came up and hit one of my legs - and I kicked it with the other leg. It scared me, not knowing what it was at all. All I could see was a fin."
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In the middle of the night, while he was waiting to be rescued, James said he decided to eat objects floating near him to keep his energy up, including a bamboo plank.
"It put some kind of taste in my mouth other than salt water," James said, "I never accepted that this was it - this was going to be the end of my life."
It wasn't until 8:25 p.m. the next day that a Coast Guard tanker spotted James and rescued him, according to a CNN report.
He is not the only one who survived in the middle of the sea
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@cnn A man was saved by the US Coast Guard possibly 15 hours after he fell overboard on a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico.
CNN correspondent Nick Valencia shows footage of the helicopter rescue.
#cnn #news #fyp ♬ original sound - CNN
A representative from the company that operates the cruise ship gave a statement to Insider in which it was written that the only way to fall off the ship is to climb on purpose and pass the safety barriers surrounding the deck.
"We greatly appreciate the efforts of everyone, especially the U.S. Coast Guard and the mariner who spotted Mr. Grimes in the water," said Matt Lupoli, a company spokesman. "Cruise ships have safety barriers in all public areas governed by U.S. Coast Guard standards that prevent about to fall.
No one should climb aboard.
The only way to fall is to deliberately climb up and pass the safety barriers."
Watch the full interview with James:
Shanta Miller White, a passenger who was on the ship with her husband and other family members for the Thanksgiving holiday, told Insider that Carnival left passengers in the dark about the passenger's fate.
"It was scary because so many people were having different conversations on the ship," she said, "First of all the rumor was that it was a child - then we found out it was an adult. We just heard them calling his name in the announcement," she added.
During Thanksgiving dinner Thursday night, White said passengers were informed that the boat was changing course to conduct a search and rescue mission.
"When we found out that someone got on board and fell or jumped - or whatever, I was immediately very stressed and scared. I didn't know what was going to happen because we had no reception at the time. We were so far from land."
The news of the rescue finally reached the passengers: "I found out that the Coast Guard had rescued him when the cell phone reception came back and my family sent screenshots of the news release," White said, "I'm thankful to God that he's alive, but I admit that I don't plan to go back to 'Carnival' because I don't Feels like they were empathetic towards the other 3,000 or so people who were on the cruise when it happened."
"Carnival" did not respond to the claims.
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