SURVIVOR — Elvis Francois receives a medical checkup after being rescued in Cartagena, Colombia, on January 16, 2023. He was lost at sea for 24 days and survived by consuming ketchup, garlic powder and bouillon cubes. Photo by Colombian Navy/PNA
Man survives on ketchup while at sea for weeks
ANKARA – A Dominican man who was lost at sea for almost one month has survived, in part by consuming ketchup, garlic powder and bouillon cubes, according to officials.
Elvis Francois, 47, was rescued Jan. 15 after he was stranded for 24 days, according to the Colombian navy Thursday.
Francois said he did not have food and he mixed ketchup, garlic powder and bouillon cubes that were on the boat, with water.
A plane spotted him after seeing the word “help” on the boat’s hull. He was picked up by a passing container ship about 120 nautical miles northwest of the Colombian port city of Cartagena.
Francois was fixing a sailboat last December off the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles when the weather turned rough and swept him out to sea.
He told Colombian officials that he called friends and that they tried to contact him but there was no signal. “There was nothing else to do but sit and wait,” he said.
“At some point, I lost hope and thought about my family, but I thank the coast guard. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be telling the story,” said Francois. Anadolu/Philippine News Agency
