Aurora Starchild
A Brazilian fisherman was rescued after floating on a freezer in the Atlantic Ocean for 11 days. Romualdo Macedo Rodrigues intended to go on a 3-day trip when his vessel started to sink. Unable to swim, he attributes the freezer as a Godsend and says it saved his life. CNN affiliate Record TV broke the news.
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“That freezer was God in my life.” — Romualdo Macedo Rodrigues
“That freezer was God in my life,” the survivor told Record TV. “The only thing I had was the freezer. It was a miracle.” He continued, “I was desperate. I thought my end was coming. But thank God, God gave me one more chance.”
Rodrigues noticed that cracks had formed in his fishing vessel and feared for the worst. But then he saw that the freezer was floating. Grabbing a lifebuoy, he made his way to the freezer.
“I saw [the freezer] wasn’t sinking,” he said. “I jumped, it fell to one side and kept normal…”
Rodrigues considers his survival story a second chance at life. “I was born again,” he said. “I thought I wouldn’t be telling this story, but I’m back here.”
Rodrigues stayed in the freezer for 11 days, floating in the Atlantic, until he was found off the coast of Suriname. A boat of fishermen found him 280 miles away from where his boat initially sank.
He Was Circled by Sharks at One Point
At one point, a shiver of sharks started circling the freezer.
“Sharks were surrounding the freezer, but they went away,” said Rodrigues. He said he thought they would attack him. “I stayed on the top, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t sleep. I saw the dawn, the dusk, asking God to send someone to rescue me.”
Rodrigues said he thought about his family — his wife, children, and parents — constantly in order to keep his spirits up. But when he saw the sharks, he thought that was it. Luckily, they left him alone.
At another point, water started pouring into the makeshift life raft, and Rodrigues used his hands to bail it out.
By the time Rodrigues was discovered off the coast of Suriname, he had lost 11 pounds. He said his eyes suffered severe sun and wind damage and he was dangerously dehydrated. He could barely see the boat of fishermen, let alone raise his arms, but he managed.
Fishermen Gave Rodrigues First Aid Before He Was Detained in Suriname
The fishermen gave him first aid once on shore but then Rodrigues was detained for two weeks in Suriname because he had no identification. Thanks to the freezer, he’s back home with his family and telling his story.
The FISHER Global Fishing Accident Data Management System states that fishing is the most hazardous occupation in the world. About 24,000 to 32,000 deaths occur annually from commercial fishing. That equates to about 4 deaths among fishermen every hour.
