Rescued sailor speaks after being adrift for months with his dog
Australian sailor Timothy Shaddock has spoken up about the three months he spent lost at sea with nothing but his dog Bella.
The 54-year-old was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in the Pacific Ocean after a helicopter spotted his incapacitated catamaran 1900 km from land.
When he was found by the Maria Delia crew, which is part of the Grupomar fleet, Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” state after surviving three months without provisions and shelter.
Shaddock, who was sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia lost contact because his boat’s electronic system was damaged during rough seas.
When the helicopter first discovered him, they threw him a drink and flew away before returning with the tuna trawler to rescue him. This was his first contact with humans since early May.
Despite the horrifying ordeal and the fear of not being able to survive an impending hurricane, the sailor remained positive and said that he enjoyed being out at sea.
"I did enjoy being at sea. I enjoyed being out there," he told reporters during a news conference in Manzanillo, Mexico on Tuesday, after he safely made it back to land.
"But when things get tough out there, you know, you have to survive. And then when you get saved, you feel like you want to live. So, I'm very grateful."
Shaddock said that he passed the time by fixing things and tried to stay positive by going into the water to “just enjoy” it.
The sailor survived on a diet of raw fish after the storm knocked out his electronics and ability to cook.
“I did a lot of fishing,” Shaddock said. “There was a lot of tuna sushi.”
The emaciated sailor who survived was immediately given food, water and medication upon being rescued.
In one of the photos shared by the Grupomar, a thin and bearded Shaddock was pictured in the boat's cabin with a blood pressure cuff around his arm and a huge smile on his face despite the entire ordeal.
In a few others, Bella was pictured lying on the deck and receiving pats for being the bravest pup. Shaddock expressed his gratitude for his loyal companion.
“Bella found me in Mexico, she’s Mexican. She is the spirit of the middle of the country, and she wouldn’t let me go,” he said. “She’s amazing, that dog is something else.
“I’m just grateful she’s alive. She’s a lot more brave than me.”
He revealed that the hardest part of surviving was the fatigue, but this incident will not stop him from going into the ocean in the future.
“I’ll always be in the water, I don’t know how far out in the ocean I’ll be,” he said.
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