• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man survived two days at sea by hanging on to buoy after falling off boat on Christmas Day

Home> News

Published 17:43 28 Dec 2022 GMT

Man survived two days at sea by hanging on to buoy after falling off boat on Christmas Day

Perhaps no one had a worse day than this guy

Daisy Phillipson

Daisy Phillipson

Shocking footage has emerged showing the moment a man was discovered after falling off his boat on Christmas Day.

Amazingly, the fisherman, named David Soares, managed to survive at sea for two whole days by hanging on to a buoy.

And there I was thinking I had a dicey Christmas.

The 43-year-old was ruled as missing after his boat was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil.

Advert

Eventually he was tracked down by a fellow fisherman where he was found on top of a signal buoy, having been stranded alone for all that time.

Speaking to Brazilian news portal G1, Soares - who is known as 'Leandro' by his local fishing community - opened up about the unbelievable experience.

It all started on Sunday (25 December) when he decided to do a spot of work alone at Atafona beach, only to fall off his vessel.

"For me, the first 10 minutes were the most difficult because I wanted to get to the vessel at all costs," he explained.

David Soares survived by holding on to a signal buoy.
@disangermano/Twitter

Advert

"But it's really an enormous weight of water, there was no way to swim against it."

You can only imagine the panic.

After noticing he was missing, his family and friends starting looking for him while calling in the Navy to help with the rescue mission.

Eventually his colleagues came across his boat, but their relief soon turned to concern after noticing it was empty.

Although most would lose it in this situation (myself included), Soares tried his best to stay calm.

Advert

He removed his clothes as they were weighing him down and allowed himself to drift rather than using up valuable energy swimming against the tide.

The fisherman's plan paid off – around eight kilometres from where the boat was, he came across a signal buoy.

But getting there was no mean feat. "There was swell, wind," he continued.

"I decided to let the waters take me to use less strength and 'walk' faster. And it took me about four hours swimming to get to Porto do Acu, on the buoys."

Thankfully he was found by a fellow fisherman.
@disangermano/Twitter

Advert

Soares managed to keep himself going despite the circumstances, just waiting in the hope that someone would arrive.

On the second day, his hopes came true after he was spotted by another fisherman.

"Many times I thought I was going to die of cold until help arrived," he said.

After being seen to by medical staff for dehydration, Soares has amazingly returned to fishing - clearly that brush with death wasn't enough to keep him from fulfilling his duties.

And he's learned an important lesson along the way, saying: "I had the second opportunity to face life with different eyes and to be a better man."

Featured Image Credit: @disangermano/Twitter

Topics: World News

Daisy Phillipson
Daisy Phillipson

Daisy graduated from Kingston University with a degree in Magazine Journalism, writing a thesis on the move from print to digital publishing. Continuing this theme, she has written for a range of online publications including Digital Spy and Little White Lies, with a particular passion for TV and film. Contact her on [email protected]

X

@DaisyWebb77

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Tourist 'eaten by shark' after being swept away from boat on dream holiday
  • Mum claims toddler almost killed by exploding washing machine which left chunk of finger 'hanging off'
  • ‘Traumatic' update on Brit ‘threatened with beheading' by gang to 'force her to smuggle' £200k worth of drugs
  • Miraculous tale of 'The Lost Children' who survived 40 days in jungle after plane crash has sinister twist

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
  • 11 hours ago

    Everything we know about Texas floods that have killed at least 121 as Trump arrives at disaster site

    The President and the First Lady have headed to the state one week after the horror floods wreaked havoc

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Scientists make surprising discovery at what lies under Antarctic ice sheet after its been covered in ice for 34 million years

    It could help scientists predict the future of the ice sheet

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Paedophile to be surgically castrated after raping girl, 6, in nation's shock new punishment tactic

    It comes a year after a law was passed in Madagascar permitting the controversial punishment

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Scientists think they've worked out what unknown interstellar object in our solar system is

    It came from outside our own solar system

    News