Watch the video: Man survives 24 days in distress thanks to ketchup.
A shipwrecked man from the island state of Dominica survived 24 days in the Caribbean Sea with only a ketchup bottle, some garlic powder and a few bouillon cubes until he was rescued off the coast of Colombia. In a video published by the Colombian Navy, Elvis Francois said that he extended it all with water, he didn’t have anything else.
The 47-year-old was busy repairing a sailing boat in front of a port on the island of Saint-Martin in December when he was suddenly driven out to sea in bad weather, the Navy reported. “Without any navigational skills, he was lost and disoriented. All efforts to maneuver the ship were in vain.” Without a mobile network, his attempts to call were also in vain.
“I had no choice but to wait (…) for 24 days without anyone to talk to, without knowing where I was,” said Francois. Eventually he came up with the idea of writing the word “help” on his boat.
“Then on January 15, I saw an airplane and started sending signals using the sun and a mirror,” he said. When the plane flew past him a second time, he knew the occupants would have spotted him.
The Colombian Navy was finally able to save Francois with the support of a merchant ship. His odyssey ended around 220 kilometers southwest of the Colombian port of Puerto Bolívar.
The Colombian immigration authorities now want to take care of his speedy return to his home country of Dominica.