Will Fransen knew his chances of survival were low when he found himself in the water during a solo fishing trip. Fransen was out fishing on his 36-foot boat near New Zealand’s Alderman Islands when he hooked a large marlin and fell overboard without his life jacket.
“When I went in the water, I knew the chances of somebody even knowing I was in the water were pretty slim. I was pretty pessimistic from the outset,” Fransen told the New Zealand Herald. “I just kept staying alive.”
At first, Fransen tried to swim to his boat, but the current pulled it away quickly. Then, he attempted to swim to the Alderman Islands, but the current was too strong. Exhausted and wearing only the harness he fell into the water with, Fransen treaded water, floated on his back and was even circled by a shark, which fortunately chose to leave him alone. The harness provided him with a little buoyancy.
The next day, three fishermen noticed a strange reflection coming off the water. It was Fransen, reflecting the sun off his watch to desperately get their attention. The fisherman quickly got him aboard and brought him to emergency responders on land. Fransen had been in the water for over 23 hours when he was rescued. The current location of his boat is unknown.
Whangamatā, New Zealand, Police Sergeant Will Hamilton commented in a news release, “It is an absolute miracle the fisherman is still alive after the ordeal. Without the quick actions of the three gentlemen that retrieved him, this certainly would have had a tragic outcome”. “The boaties did an absolute stellar job and without a doubt saved this man’s life. Few stories end the way this one did, and police cannot thank the eagle-eyed trio enough for making the call to investigate something that looked out of the ordinary.”
