A Peruvian fisherman who spent 95 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean has told how he ate roaches, birds and sea turtles to survive.
Máximo Napa Castro, 61, had set off for a fishing trip from Marcona, a town on the southern Peruvian coast, on December 7.
He packed enough food for a two week trip but ten days in, stormy weather threw his boat off course and he ended up adrift in the Pacific.
His family launched a search but Peru’s maritime patrols were unable to locate him until last Wednesday when an Ecuadorian fishing patrol discovered him some 680 miles off the coast, heavily dehydrated and in critical condition.
‘I did not want to die,’ Napa said in a tearful interview after reuniting with his brother, in Paita, near the Ecuadorian border.
‘I ate roaches, birds, the last thing I ate was turtles.’
He said he stayed strong by thinking about his family, including his two-month-old granddaughter.
Napa says he managed to survive on rainwater he collected on the boat but soon ran out of food, ultimately spending the last 15 days without eating.
Máximo Napa Castro, 61, right, set off for a fishing trip from Marcona, a town on the southern Peruvian coast, on December 7, and spent 95 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean
Napa is seen embracing his brother upon finally returning to dry land after 95 days
Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa Castro with one of his boats in a photo posted by his son
‘I had a granddaughter who is a few months old, I held on to her. Every day I thought of my mother,’ he said. ‘I’m thankful to God for giving me a second chance.
His mother, Elena Castro, told local media that while her relatives had stayed optimistic she had began to lose hope.
‘I told the Lord, whether he’s alive or dead, just bring him back to me, even if it’s just to see him,’ she told TV Peru. ‘But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he’ll come back, he’ll come back.’
Napa’s daughter Inés Napa Torres paid tribute to the Ecuadorian fishermen who saved her father’s life.
‘It is a miracle that my father has been found,’ she told RPP Radio. ‘We, as a family, never gave up hope of finding him.’
‘Thank you, Ecuadorian brothers, for rescuing my dad Gatón, God bless you,’ she wrote in a post to Facebook.
Napa embraced his mother who was seen smiling from ear to ear
Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa, 61, receives medical attention upon his arrival in Paita
Napa was wheeled into hospital to receive further medical attention
Napa is seen onboard a vessel with his rescuers being brought back to shore
‘Every day is anguish for the whole family and I understand my grandmother’s pain because as a mother I understand her. We never thought we would go through this situation, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, we will not lose hope, Dad, of finding you,’ she had written on Facebook one week earlier on March 3.
Napa underwent further medical checks at Hospital Nuestra Señora in Paita before being discharged on Saturday and heading south to to the capital, Lima.
‘Mr Napa arrived in good physical condition. He could walk, wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition,’ said a Peruvian navy port captain, Jorge González.
