The Carnival cruise ship passenger who went overboard final Wednesday was close to dying when he was rescued, in accordance with one of many U.S. Coast Guard officers who saved him.
Aviation survival technician Richard Hoefle informed CBS News he believes “the survivor had about 30 seconds to a minute left before we would have lost him.”
The 28-year-old man had “an incredible will to survive,” Hoefle stated.
“He fell off a boat, he didn’t have flotation, he didn’t have radio or flares,” Hoefle stated. “He just had to do anything that he could with what he had, which was nothing.”
The passenger was reported lacking by the crew of the Carnival Valor on Wednesday afternoon, the Coast Guard stated final week.
The Coast Guard was then alerted by the crew of a bulk provider after they noticed the person within the water, and he was rescued Thursday evening about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana.
The man, who had been treading water for greater than 15 hours, was airlifted to a hospital, the place he’s recovering from hypothermia.
The Coast Guard shared footage of the rescue on social media.