Elvis Francois, a resident of the Dominican Republic, spent a month alone on a ship sailing offshore.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS
Elvis Francois, a resident of the Dominican Republic, thought that 2022 would be his last. In December he received an order to repair a small sailboat that was in the port of San Martín Island. There was work for several days, and somehow after dinner the man was lightly asleep. But then a fast-moving tropical storm arose (in those latitudes they are not uncommon), and the ship was swept out into the Caribbean Sea. François thought it was over, but after a few hours the storm subsided, although the coast was no longer visible. The repairman did not know how to handle the candle. As a result, he spent 24 days alone among the waves, gathering there on both Christmas and New Years. Of the food on the ship, only a plastic bottle of ketchup, bouillon cubes, and garlic powder were found. The poor man mixed all this with the rainwater that he managed to collect, and thus supported his forces.
More than once he saw the outlines of ships on the horizon and planes flying in the sky. On the roof of the ship, the prisoner of the sea carved large letters HELP (“Help”), he tried to shout, but no one noticed the signs from him. “I had no idea what to do or where he was. It was very hard, he had no one to talk to. At some point, I completely lost hope of salvation, ”François admitted.
Elvis pocket mirror saved. He aimed a sunbeam at a ship that appeared in the distance, and they realized that someone was in danger on the high seas. Soon, a radioed Colombian Navy ship approached the sailboat and took the man aboard.
The doctor, who examined the rescued, noted that nothing endangers his health, and now the man is waiting to be sent home.
