Man Survived 24 Days Adrift at Sea by Eating Ketchup
Elvis Francois was rescued when a plane saw the word “help” written on the hull of his boat.
Grant V. Faint/Getty
A man who spent weeks lost at sea survived by eating ketchup and seasoning before being rescued, the Colombian navy announced Wednesday. Elvis Francois, 47, said he had been carrying out repairs to his sailboat near the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean in December when bad weather dragged his vessel out to sea. His lack of navigational knowhow reportedly prevented him getting back to shore. “I had no food,” Francois said in a video shared by the Colombian navy. “It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi [stock cubes], so I mixed it up with some water.” Francois, from the island nation of Dominica, spent 24 days adrift before he was found about 120 nautical miles off the coast of Colombia after a plane noticed the word “help” written on the hull of his boat.
Desde el aire se estableció la ubicación del velero en emergencia que tenía la palabra “HELP” (Ayuda) grabada sobre su casco.
— Armada de Colombia (@ArmadaColombia) January 18, 2023
Se dio aviso a las unidades en tierra y mar, donde el buque mercante CMA CGM VOLTARIO se unió a la labor de rescate.#ProtegemosLaVida ⚓ pic.twitter.com/DSGZU6fdeK
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