A story of a man Survived Inside Sunken Ship For Three Days
A man survived for nearly three days inside a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean in one of the most shocking stories of sea survival ever told.
A tugboat with a 12-person crew was navigating choppy waters off the coast of Nigeria in May. At around 4:30 a.m., the boat was towing an oil tanker when a sudden ocean swell or rogue wave slammed into the vessel, snapping the tow rope and sinking the vessel.
When the boat turned over and began to sink, Harrison Okene, the ship’s cook, was in the bathroom. The majority of the other crew members were locked in their cabins as a precaution against the pirates who regularly rob and abduct vessels in that area. However, that precaution sealed the fate of the other crew members.
Okene was thrown out of the bathroom in his boxer shorts in the early morning darkness. He told The Nation, “I was dazed, and everything was dark as I was thrown from one end of the small cubicle to the other.” Okene, on the other hand, was luckier than his crewmates. None of the passengers survived the ship’s sinking because they were asleep inside their cabins.
Okene made his way into the engineers’ office, where he discovered a small pocket of air. The boat had turned upside down on the seafloor at a depth of about 100 feet by this point (30 meters). Okene’s chances of survival appeared to be near-zero, almost naked, without food or fresh water, in a cold, wet room with a dwindling supply of oxygen.
The Tales of survival
Okene survived, thanks to a series of strange coincidences and incredible luck. Others who have been trapped underwater have similar unbelievable stories of survival in near-impossible circumstances.
Scuba diver Michael Proudfoot was exploring an underwater wreck off the coast of Baja California in 1991 when he smashed his breathing regulator and lost his entire supply of air. Proudfoot is said to have survived for two days on raw sea urchins and a small pot of fresh water after discovering an air pocket.
Okene also discovered a bottle of Coca-Cola and a life vest with two small flashlights attached, in addition to his small pocket of air. But as Okene listened to the sounds of sharks or other fish devouring the bodies of his crewmates, he began to lose hope, he is reported as saying.
The physics of staying alive
The air pocket Okene discovered was only about 4 feet (1.2 meters) high, despite the fact that humans inhale about 350 cubic feet (10 cubic meters) of air every 24 hours.
According to a statement from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), because Okene was under pressure at the ocean floor, physicist and recreational scuba diver Maxim Umansky estimates that Okene’s air pocket had been compressed by a factor of about four.
Umansky calculated that if the pressurized air pocket was about 216 cubic feet (6 cubic meters), it would have enough oxygen to keep Okene alive for two and a half days, or 60 hours.
However, there is another danger: carbon dioxide (CO2), which is lethal to humans at levels of about 5%. Okene exhaled carbon dioxide as he breathed, slowly building up levels of the gas in his tiny air chamber.
Water, on the other hand, absorbs carbon dioxide, and by splashing water inside his air pocket, Okene inadvertently increased the water’s surface area, increasing CO2 absorption and keeping CO2 levels below the lethal 5% level.
Hypothermia: a slow death
Hypothermia, which occurs when a person’s core temperature falls below 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), was another danger for Okene. Hypothermia can cause confusion, movement disorders, amnesia, and unusual behaviors such as “terminal burrowing,” in which a person tries to find a small, enclosed shelter, similar to a hibernating animal.
Extreme hypothermia can eventually lead to death. According to the University of Minnesota, even in water as warm as 60 degrees Fahrenheit (16 degrees Celsius), a person could pass out within two hours.
But luck was on Okene’s side once more: he was able to construct a small platform with a mattress that kept him just above the water’s edge. If his body had been exposed to the freezing seawater, Okene would have died within a matter of hours.
Looking for bodies
Salvage divers were looking for bodies and had already discovered four when they noticed a human hand motioning to them through an opening in the wreck.
Okene’s oxygen supply was running out after about 60 hours underwater. In an LLNL statement, Umansky said, “This man was lucky to survive because a sufficient large amount of trapped air was in his air pocket.” “After 60 hours, he was not poisoned by CO2 because it stayed at safe levels, and we can speculate that the ocean water sealing his enclosure helped.”
Okene was finally brought to the surface in a decompression chamber by salvage divers after nearly three days of desperately hoping, praying, and reminiscing about family and friends. However, he had no idea how much time had passed.
“I saw the stars in the sky when we came out and thought I must have been in the water all day,” Okene told The Nation. “I was told I had spent more than two days in the DCC [decompression chamber] after I left.”
The Man Who Survived Falling Through a Thunderstorm, William Rankin
William Rankin was a fighter pilot who survived an ejection into a thunderstorm. He suffered frostbite, violent wind and lightning, severe decompression, and nearly drowned from breathing in rain water. He was in the cloud for over 40 minutes in total.
Aitzaz Hasan, Pakistani school boy who sacrificed his life from suicide bomber
Aitzaz Hasan, a 15 year old Pakistani school boy, sacrificed his life while preventing a suicide bomber from entering his school of 2000 students. His father said "My son made his mother cry but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children."
A woman who had been lost since she was a newborn 51 years ago was said to have been spotted
A woman who had been lost since she was a newborn for 51 years was reported to have been sighted.
Photos: This man sold everything 45 years ago to buy a bike and travel 6,000 miles from India to Sweden to see his love.
An Indian man traveled from India to Sweden on a bicycle to meet his Swedish wife in 1978. The journey took him 4 months and through eight countries.
The WWII Parachute Wedding Dress
Major Claude Hensinger jumped out of a B-29 bomber during World War II when the engine caught fire. He was saved by his parachute. Later, he requested that his fiancée Ruth make him a gown out of the same parachute. The dress is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.
Drive-Thru Weddings in Las Vegas: The Ultimate Fast, Fun, and Legal Way to Say “I Do”
Inspired by fast food convenience, Las Vegas offers drive-thru weddings where couples can legally marry in under 5 minutes—without leaving their car. Some chapels even offer curbside Elvis impersonators and 24/7 ceremonies, complete with “to-go” marriage licenses.
A flight attendant uses a secret note to save a teen girl from sex trafficking
The flight attendant Shelia Fredrick. She spotted a distressed girl with an older man. She left a note in the restroom on which the victim wrote that she needed some help. The girl was rescued from a human trafficker after the authorities were informed.
Inspiring story of Emma Schols who Saved Her Six Kids From A Burning House
Emma Schols, a Swedish mother, saved all six of her children from a devastating house fire in 2019, running from room to room through flames while bleeding and losing skin. Against all odds, she survived with severe burns covering 90% of her body.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Hospital Security Blocked NICU Access for Father of Premature Twins
A father was denied access to see his premature twins in the NICU when Beyonce and Jay-Z had their daughter at the same time.
The Crystal Maiden of the Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
Located in Belize, there is a cave where the remnants of ancient Maya human sacrifices can be witnessed. However, reaching the back of the cave system requires swimming, wading through a cave river, and crawling through narrow, uneven rocky passages in darkness. Once there, visitors can walk among the numerous corpses of sacrifice victims, including The Crystal Maiden, an 18-year-old whose skeleton has become calcified to the point of sparkling.
Frank Lentini, The Three-Legged Sideshow Performer
Francesco Lentini was a man with three legs, four feet, sixteen toes, and two sets of functional male genitals. He worked for the circus and lived to be 78 years old.
A man who was saved from committing suicide 16 years ago now assists people dealing with mental health issues
Kevin Berthia traveled to the Golden Gate Bridge in 2005 to commit suicide. He ended up spending 92 minutes on the edge of the bridge talking to officer Kevin Briggs about his life. In much better circumstances, they cross paths at the same bridge ten years later.
Troy Leon Gregg: the death row inmate murdered the same night he escaped
In July 1980, Troy Leon Gregg escaped from Georgia State Prison the night before his execution. However, he was killed in a fight in a bar just a few hours later.
Kipekee, the world's only spotless giraffe, was born at Brights Zoo
The world's only spotless giraffe was born at a zoo in the United States. The giraffe born without spots on July 31 is the only one of her kind on Earth.
Before Hollywood, Christopher Walken Was a Teenage Lion Tamer with a Lioness Named Sheba
Before acting, Christopher Walken worked as a lion tamer in a circus at age 16. He performed with a lioness named Sheba and described the job as surprisingly calm—just another day before Hollywood stardom.
Woman survives skydiving accident, discovers she's pregnant
2005, a woman performing her first solo skydive jump survived a parachute malfunction which caused her to slam face first into a parking lot at 50 MPH. During surgery doctors discovered she was pregnant. She made a full recovery and the baby was fine.
The Man Who Kept a “Gold” Rock for Years—Only to Discover It Was a 4.6-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Worth a Fortune
A man cherished a heavy 17-kilogram rock for years, believing it to be solid gold. The surprising twist? Experts later revealed it was a rare, 4.6-billion-year-old iron meteorite—an ancient cosmic relic worth far more than gold. Dive into the fascinating story of this celestial treasure and what makes it so valuable.
Woman had no idea she had an identical twin until she saw a 'lookalike' on YouTube
When Anais Bordier saw a YouTube video of Samantha Futerman, who looked exactly like her, she messaged her on Facebook and discovered they were both adopted and born on the same day. They were identical twins who had been separated at birth and had found each other by chance and on social media.
Elvita Adams jumps from the Empire State Building and amazingly survived
Elvita Adams once tried to commit suicide by jumping off the empire state building. She Jumped from the 86th floor but was blown back to 85th floor by a strong gust of wind.
A man joins a search operation without realizing he is the missing person
Beyhan Mutlu, a Turkish national, was reported missing by local media and unintentionally joined search teams looking for himself in a forest. He was drunk and lost in the woods when he ended up in a group with others looking for himself.
The accidentally discovery of Riace bronzes
Stefano Mariottini was snorkeling off the coast of Monasterace near Riace in 1972 when he noticed a human hand sticking out of the sand and called the police, thinking it was a corpse. It was actually two statues of "Warriors from Riace" - 5th century BC Greek bronze statues.
A subway in Chongqing passes through a building (images)
A train has been constructed through an apartment complex in Chongqing, China. The 19-story residential structure is not only passed by the light rail passenger train, but it also serves as a transit stop. Apartment residents can simply get a ride from the sixth to eighth levels.
ILOVEYOU Virus, the worst computer virus of all time
The ILOVEYOU Virus, also known as Love Letter for You or Love Bug, had a high infection rate due to its ability to spread itself by copying entries from users' email address books. It is a virus that was created in 2000 by a college student in Manilla, Philippines, and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the worst computer virus of all time, causing more damage than anything before it.
How Magic Johnson Missed Out On $7 Billion Nike deal
Magic Johnson turned down a deal with Nike in 1979 that offered him 100,000 shares of stock and $1 for every pair of shoes sold. Instead, he chose Converse, which offered him $100,000 per year. Johnson lost about $5 billion by declining the Nike deal.
Tourist in China left hanging from 330-ft-high glass bridge as wind blows away its panels
The popular tourist attraction glass-bottomed bridge was shattered after a strong wind blew away its panels. A Chinese tourist was left stranded in strong winds 330 feet up on a glass-bottomed bridge.
