Real life 'Cast Away': Australian man and dog rescued after being lost at sea for 2 months

An Australian man and his dog have been rescued after they were left stranded in the Pacific Ocean for two months following a storm.

The two, who survived on raw fish and rainwater, were picked up by a trawler off the coast of Mexico after a helicopter accompanying the ship spotted their catamaran on July 12, reported the Daily Mail.

Tim Shaddock, 51, and his dog, Bella, embarked on their journey from Mexico’s La Paz to French Polynesia (a distance of approximately 7,000 kms) in April. However, just after a few weeks of sailing, the boat was damaged by the storm, the report added.

How did they survive?

Following this, Shaddock and his dog were left drifting in the vast Pacific Ocean. They ate raw fish and drank rainwater to survive and kept waiting for help.

The two protected themselves from the Sun by hiding under the boat’s canopy. Finally, around two months after they were lost, Shaddock’s vessel was spotted by a helicopter that was conducting surveillance for a Mexican fishing trawler, according to The Guardian.

The trawler then left for Mexico to provide Shaddock with the required medical treatment, the report added.

Rescue operation

A video, obtained by 9News, showed a lean Shaddock with an overgrown beard as his dog, Bella, wagged its tail after being rescued.

“I have been through a very difficult ordeal at sea. I am just needing rest and good food because I have been alone at sea for a long time. Otherwise, I am in very good health,” Shaddock was quoted as saying.

Expert opinion on survival

According to ocean survival expert professor Mike Tipton, Shaddock and his dog’s survival was a “combination of luck and skill”. He highlighted that chances of surviving are “pretty slim” when you are on a small boat in a vast ocean. Tipton also compared Shaddock’s survival tale to Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks’ film Cast Away, which was released in 2000.

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