He will live to tell the tale. A fisherman was lucky that after he fell into the ocean, the shark that approached him only “came to sniff me.” This is what he told the fishermen who managed to rescue him 23 hours after he was at the mercy of the waters.

That man was literally saved by his watch. To authorities, the fact that other eagle-eyed fishermen spotted him was an “absolute miracle.”

The subject, dedicated to fishing, suffered the accident on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. He lost his balance and fell into the ocean “off the North Island of New Zealand,” Noticias Telemundo reported on Thursday, January 4.

According to Sergeant Will Hamilton, the incident occurred while “he was trying to catch a marlin.”

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What happened in fishing

The lone fisherman, identified on Newshub as Will Fransen, he was fishing on a “40-foot Betty G boat.”

Suddenly “he couldn’t hold him because he was squirming,” the sergeant explained. Fransen recalled to 1News that “the fish shook and I picked it up and the safety rail came out of position and I immediately rolled into the water.”

To save his life, he wanted to swim to the Schepeneilanden, about 56 kilometers off the east coast of the North Island. Could not. He was exhausted and under those conditions he must have spent “a cold night in the ocean.”

There were two boats near me from the start that I tried to shout and wave at without success

He later told New Zealand media: “I was cold in the sun in the middle of the afternoon and I was shivering for about 15 hours.”

He also told of a moment of great fear: “A shark came along and sniffed me.” He noted that he continued swimming and remembers that he “started hallucinating in the sun.”

Fishermen with eagle view attracted by the clock

The fisherman was exhausted, but he did not give up. Dawn broke and he saw another boat and saw the best chance to save himself.

Desperately, they reported on Telemundo, he tried to attract attention, “using the reflection of the sun on his watch.”

Lieutenant Hamilton celebrates the response of both the fisherman and the three angels who, without being very sure, came to the rescue.

The trio of fishermen have “eagle eyes,” they emphasized on the news channel, because they noticed an “unusual reflection” in the distance. Moved by curiosity, they came closer in the boat.

To their surprise – and to the other’s rescue – that boat’s captain, Max White, and two other men found the man in the vastness of the ocean.

We saw a glow probably 600 meters away. As we got closer, I think it was Max who said, “I think it’s a person.”

James McDonnell

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They rescued him and brought him to dry land. “He was desperate…we wrapped him in several layers and he drank some warm water and cranberry juice.”

The paramedics waiting for him immediately noticed that “he was hypothermic and exhausted.”

The lieutenant is convinced of what happened: “It is an absolute miracle that the fisherman is still alive after the terrible experience,” he added, according to Telemundo.

Captain Max White is happy with the ending of this story. “We will not forget this experience,” he said.

The rescued person recovers. He can’t find the words to thank Mike, Tyler and James for the important gesture of love they made when they went looking for him.

In case you’re wondering, you who read this story, we tell you that yes… the fisherman, Telemundo pointed out, still has his “life-saving” watch.

(JO)