WARRI, NIGERIA – A Nigerian cook was rescued in a dramatic fashion when divers hunting for bodies in a downed ship found him surviving in an air bubble for two days without food or water.
Harrison Okene is lucky to be alive after spending two days trapped in freezing cold water in an upturned tugboat. The ship capsized on May 26th off the coast of Nigeria while stabilizing an oil tanker. Divers recovered ten bodies and a remaining crew member was not found. [contextly_sidebar id=”75a4d4c2e492be3b9b09f372adc4c058″]
Somehow Okene survived, breathing inside a rapidly dwindling supply of air as the waters slowly rose towards the ceiling of the small room he holed up in. “I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it’s the end. I kept thinking the water was going to fill up the room but it did not,” Okene said. “I was so hungry but mostly so, so thirsty. The salt water took the skin off my tongue,” he added.
Okene sensed that he was not alone in the darkness. The cook recounted the story of how he perceived the dead bodies of the crew around him by smelling them. He told the tale of how fish began to wriggle into the room and began eating his dead shipmates in front of him. “But I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them. The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound. It was horror,” Okene said.
Video of the stunning rescue emerged recently and show underwater divers finding him, fitting him with a dive suit and slowly bringing him safely back to the surface. “When I am at home sometimes it feels like the bed I am sleeping in is sinking. I think I’m still in the sea again. I jump up and I scream,” the man said.
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