A Royal Caribbean employee survived nearly 10 hours in the Pacific Ocean after going overboard from a cruise ship off the coast of California. Two fishermen found the 37-year-old man about 20 miles from shore on November 6 and pulled him out of the water before contacting emergency services.
According to People, the man worked as a pianist aboard the Ovation of the Seas, which was sailing from Long Beach, California, to Ensenada, Mexico. Authorities believe he entered the water at around 2:30 a.m., several hours before the fishermen came across him. He was still conscious when they reached him, although he was frightened and believed he might not make it.
Sean Norton and Grant Garrett were returning from a fishing trip near Catalina Island when their boat’s captain spotted what appeared to be a person in the water. Garrett said he quickly recognized that someone was in trouble and urged the crew to stop their boat. “Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,” Garrett recalled.
The Man Was Taken To A Hospital And Is In Stable Condition
Norton said he and Garrett each took one of the man’s arms and lifted him onto their boat. The crew member was shaking and struggled to speak after spending so long in the water. “The only thing he said to me was, ‘Thank you. I thought I was gonna die,’” Norton said…