"I am so grateful. I'm alive," an Australian sailor exclaimed when he was rescued along with his dog after being stranded in the Pacific Ocean for more than two months. The sailor, named Tim Shaddock, and his dog, Bella, were rescued by a fishing vessel and taken to the Mexican port of Manzanillo, reported news agency AFP. All this while, they reportedly survived on raw fish and rainwater as they struggled for a glimpse of land on their storm-crippled boat.
The highly malnourished man was found barely alive with a bushy beard and wild hair, covered by a red cap that had the logo of a fishing company named Grupomar. Coincidentally, it was a vessel of the Grupomar company that came to his rescue, AFP reported.
Shaddock, while talking to the media expressed, his gratitude towards his rescuers and said, "To the captain and this fishing company that saved my life... I'm just so grateful that I'm alive... I really didn't think I'd make it, you know? So thank you so much."
As per Grupomar, Shaddock is 54 years old and he, along with Bella, had set off from Mexico's seaside city of La Paz in April. They planned to sail about 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) before dropping anchor in tropical French Polynesia. However, fate had other plans and they soon found themselves stranded after rough seas damaged the vessel, which he described as a French Polynesian traditional boat named "Aloha Toa". The storm had knocked out the boat's electronics, leaving him virtually blind at sea.
Shaddock said his health he is recovering and he was really hungry.
While narrating his survival story, he said that he did a lot of fishing after he ran out of provisions. He had also lost his utensils along the way, which was why he had to stick to eating 'sushi'. AFP quoted him as saying that there were "many, many, many bad days" at sea, but also "good ones". He said, "I would try and find the happiness inside myself and I found that a lot as I drifted alone at sea. I would go in the water too, and just enjoy being in the water. Life is beautiful."
When he talked about his dog, he said that he found her in Mexico. "She just kept following me into the water," he said. According to Shaddock, he adopted the dog after several failed attempts to get her a new home. He chuckled, "She's amazing. That dog is something else. I'm just grateful she's alive. She is a lot braver than I am."
Shaddock said that he now looks forward to going back home to his family and friends. He said that he would not head out to the sea in the near future.