OAN’s Abril Elfi
2:20 PM – Tuesday, July 18, 2023
After months at sea, a lost sailor and his dog have been rescued in the South Pacific Ocean by a Mexican tuna boat helicopter.
Tim Shaddock, 51, and his dog Bella were stranded at sea after their yacht and electronic communication system were broken by choppy currents while they were traveling from Mexico to French Polynesia.
Shaddock’s catamaran set out from the Mexican city of La Paz, but a few weeks into the trip, the weather rendered it unusable. He stated that while sailing out of the Sea of Cortez and into the Pacific in early May, was when he last saw land.
Due to his ability to cook and have electricity being taken away, Shaddock and Bella reportedly only survived off raw fish and rainwater.
The Australian sailor and his dog are “stable and doing very well,” stated his doctor, who spoke to an Australian news outlet on Sunday.
About 1,200 miles from land, Shaddock’s catamaran was discovered by the tuna boat’s helicopter, which was the first evidence of people he had seen in three months, Shaddock stated. He said that after the pilot threw him a drink and took off, he subsequently came back from the Mara Delia with a speed boat.
The fishing fleet’s operator, Grupomar, said in a statement that Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” situation when they were discovered, without food and shelter, and that the crew of the tuna boat provided them with medical care, food, and water.
“To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” Shaddock said.
Shaddock announced that he would soon be returning to Australia and that he was looking forward to seeing his family. As for Bella, a crew member, Genaro Rosales, has adopted her on the condition that he would take good care of her.
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