A fishing boat spotted the 58-year-old man floating on a swimming ring with rainbow colours a few kilometres off the coast of Taiwan. He was rescued after drifting on the open sea for 19 hours.
On July 7, the Wanli Princess 168, a fishing boat en route to New Taipei, noticed something unusual in the water. As they approached, it became clear that it was a topless man clinging to a colourful swim ring. The crew threw a life buoy to the stranded man and pulled him aboard, taking him back to port and calling emergency services. Despite being in a dehydrated state, the man was in good health after this incident.
The man, identified as Hong Nan had jumped into the waters of New Taipei with a swim ring to cool off, having had a few drinks. The gentle rocking of the sea lulled him into a deep sleep. He remembered entering the water around 6 or 7 in the evening on July 6, only to wake up hours later, far from shore in the open sea.
Hong Nan called for help, but because of his distant location, he was not heard. He drifted throughout the night and into the following day until the Wanli Princess 168 spotted him at around 1:30 pm. Upon rescue, he was transported to a Taipei hospital where doctors conducted tests and released him shortly thereafter.
“At the scene, the patient had no obvious trauma and his vital signs were stable,” reported Xu Minglong of the New Taipei Fire Department. “However, he asked us for water, so we rehydrated him first, and our colleagues also performed life-saving measures on him. The signs were measured again and his vital signs were stable, so we let him leave the emergency room on his own.”
Hong Nan’s story quickly went viral and people were amazed at the man’s good luck. While he could have drifted unnoticed for days, he only had to spend a night on his vibrant swim ring before being rescued.