Sailor survives 24 days at sea with only ketchup and seasonings to eat.Photo: Colombian Navy Twitter
Elvis Francois was found 120 nautical miles away from Colombia’s Puerto Bolívar after a plane sawthe word “help” engraved on his sailboat’s hull, the Colombian navy said in a statement on Thursday.
Francois, 47, who is originally from the island nation of Dominica, said he had been making repairs to his boat near the island of St. Martin in December 2022, when bad weather conditions pulled him out to sea.
The Colombian navy noted in their statement that Francois didn’t have “any kind of knowledge in navigation,” which led to him becoming lost.
Sailor survives 24 days at sea with only ketchup and seasonings to eat.Colombian Navy Twitter
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In the navy video, Francois further detailed that he tried to contact friends and coworkers, but eventually lost service as he drifted off to sea. “There was nothing else I could do than sit down and wait,” he said.
In order to survive, Francois detailed how he had to rely on food items left aboard the ship to feed himself.
“I had no food. It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi,” he said, referring to the soup and food seasoning. “So I mixed it up with some water.”
Cmdr. Carlos Urbano Montes told the Associated Press that Francois said he collected rainwater with a cloth to drink. He added that Francois wasfound in good health, but had lost weight.
The navy said in their statement that Francois received a medical check after his rescue and was then handed over to immigration authorities, who plan to return him to his home country.
source: people.com
