SURVIVOR

Tourist Reveals How He Survived Being Stranded at Sea for a Week

Tourist Qin Jiangping fell off a cliff into the dangerous waters of the Qiongzhou Strait.

A Chinese tourist has been rescued after having been stranded at sea for nearly a week. Qin Jiangping, 39, says he managed to survive until he was found on June 2 by eating crabs and using his own urine for warmth. Jiangping was traveling in Hainan Province in southern China when he slipped off a cliff and into the Qiongzhou Strait. Without any food, fresh water, or contact with the outside world, he suffered hallucinations and infections in the rough water. “I couldn’t touch the bottom [of the water], and huge waves kept pushing me farther out,” Jiangping said in a statement to China Daily. The man, who was floating on a maritime buoy for most of the week, admits to catching small crabs by hand and eating up to 80 of them during his ordeal. He also admits to using his own urine for warmth. “I had already accepted that my husband was gone,” the man’s wife told China Daily, until her husband was ultimately found and rescued by two fishermen nearly six miles from shore. Despite losing 22 pounds, Jiangping’s health is improving, according to physician Chen Boyi, and he remains in good spirits. “No matter how dangerous or hopeless things get, if you keep a steady mind, you can get through it.”