By Haris Ahmed
Two fishermen have saved a man believed to have been floating and kicking his legs to stay alive off the coast of California for
nine hours after falling down off a holiday cruise boat.
Grant Garrett and Sean Norton informed CNN partner KCBS/KCAL that they were close to 20 miles away from the land shore
when they bumped into the man inside the water on Friday morning.
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,’” Garrett shared. Norton added that the whole event
felt dream-like and strange.
“Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up,” Norton stated. “He was in total shock.”
“The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton expressed.
The man later shared with them that he worked as a piano player on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship named “Ovation of the Seas,”
and Newport County workers believe the individual fell over the side of the boat close to nine hours before he was located,
KCBS/KCAL reported.
The individual is anticipated to stay alive, but Norton stated he believes the man might not have done so without the El Niño
weather pattern, which is linked with warmer water temperatures inside the Pacific Ocean.
“You have this crazy super El Niño year. This guy was in the water for probably 10 hours, but the water’s 76 degrees,” Norton
noted. “A different year, no way he makes it.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean company told CNN: “We are providing support and assistance to our crew member
during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our employee, we have no additional details to share.”
