A man was rescued 22 nautical miles off the coast of Colombia after spending two days adrift in the Pacific Ocean clinging to a foam cooler.
As reported in , 47-year-old Solano Salazar and a friend departed from a port in the Guapi area of southwestern Colombia last Friday to begin a fishing trip. Two days into their excursion, their boat capsized and sank in bad weather.
Salazar kept himself alive by using a foam cooler from the boat as a makeshift flotation device. On Wednesday, he was spotted and rescued by crew from the Colombian Navy, which happened to be conducting exercises in the area.
“I am okay now because the navy rescued me,” the Guardian quoted Salazar as saying. “I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think about anything else.” Salazar is currently recovering in a hospital. His companion has not been found.
A video shot by the Colombian Navy and posted on shows the moment Salazar was spotted and rescued.