Man survives 11 days in ocean floating alone in a freezer: ‘A miracle’

A Brazilian fisherman survived for 11 days in the Atlantic Ocean by floating inside a freezer, according to reports.

Record TV, a Brazilian broadcaster, reported that Romualdo Macedo Rodrigues set out in August for a fishing trip that was meant to last three days but then found his vessel sinking.

Mr Rodrigues reportedly didn't know how to swim, but jumped inside the floating freezer from his boat and was rescued by other fishermen off the coast of Suriname 11 days later, 280 miles away from where he sank.

"That freezer was God in my life. The only thing I had was the freezer. It was a miracle," Mr Rodrigues told Record TV. "I was desperate. I thought my end was coming. But thank God, God gave me one more chance."

Describing the moment where he escaped the sinking boat, he said: "I saw [the freezer] wasn't sinking. I jumped, it fell to one side and kept normal... I was born again. I thought I wouldn't be telling this story, but I'm back here."

During the ordeal, Mr Rodrigues had no food or water. At one point, water began to seep into the freezer, which he had to bail out with his hands. At another point, he said, sharks circled the impromptu survival raft, before departing.

"I was thinking about my kids, my wife," he said. "Every day I was thinking about my mother, my father, all my family. It gave me strength and hope... but at the moment I thought there was no other way."

Mr Rodrigues said that he lost around 11lbs of weight, while his eyes were damaged by the sun and wind and his body was highly dehydrated.

Finally, another boat came near the freezer. Mr Rodrigues said that his vision was fading at the time, and the fishermen thought there was no one inside. But he was able to raise his arms and attract their attention.

However, after being taken to shore and being given first aid, Suriname police detained him for two weeks because he had no immigration papers to be in the country.