Earlier this year, a man survived a 5-hour swim to safety after he fell off his boat in the Pacific Ocean. How did he survive despite freezing waters in the middle of the night? He did it with the help of a seal that guided him to safety.
How a Man Survived a 5-Hour Swim Guided by a Seal
Scott Thompson of California headed into the Santa Barbara Channel on his boat on the evening of January 26, 2022. Although he’s a sea urchin diver, Scott wasn’t out on the water for work this time. The commercial fisherman had just lost his close friend and he was spending some time on the water to clear his mind
Only on his way back in, Thompson had a lapse in judgement. Although the waters were rough, Thompson stood up, lost his balance, and fell out of his boat.
Only wearing shorts and a t-shirt, the man realized he had to act fast.
“I just started swimming as hard as I could, towards the boat,” Thompson explained. “And it really didn’t take too long to realize like, it’s getting farther, I’m not getting closer.”
Because the motor was running, Thompson’s boat moved away from him quickly. And he was left alone in the freezing waters of the Pacific Ocean at night.
“I thought to myself,” Thompson recalled, “‘Great, this is how I’m going to die. Today is the day I’m going to die.’”
Thankfully, God sent help, according to the fisherman and others who learned of how the man survived a 5-hour swim.
Check out this twitter user’s response:
Wow, am happy for the survival soul…. God will keep His protection over you and your household
— Olarinde Taiwo James (@james_olarinde) February 18, 2022
You may be wondering how exactly God helped him and how the man survive a 5-hour swim? In truth, at first, he panicked.
Thompson said, “The panic set in, it was like, ‘Wow! This is a pretty heavy situation.’”
But then he became determined to try for survival, telling himself over and over, “You gotta get home to your family.” Thompson was thinking of his wife and children and how they would be impacted.
Soon, he heard a splash that he thought was a shark, which didn’t make him feel any better. That is, until he saw what really made the splash.
