On a Carnival ship, a passenger claims to have fallen asleep before battling off sharks and jellyfish after falling overboard, although he denies having consumed alcohol in the hours before the incident.
28-year-old James Michael Grimes claims he lived on bamboo and can now laugh at the irony of his near-death experience on November 23 when he dove into the icy water.
After jumping from the Carnival Valor cruise liner, he spent over 20 hours walking on water until his sister reported him missing about 12 hours later.
They were last seen together in a pub, and according to his sister, he got up to use the restroom before leaving.
After being rescued by the Coast Guard on November 24, Grimes, who had only been onboard the shop for a day, said that he thinks the fall knocked him unconscious and that he is fortunate to be alive.
He claimed, “The next thing I knew, I regained consciousness,” in a GMA interview. I was in the sea and could not see any boats.
“You’re alive for a purpose. That fall might have killed me, but I felt that from that point on, I was trying to be optimistic.” I felt as if I had been granted a second chance at that very moment.
You are alive for a purpose while you are here, you know that. Now all you have to do is swim to stay alive. I was hoping that they would start searching for me and finally locate me.
“My biggest fear is drowning, and I didn’t want to have to confront that.
“I was determined to get out of there and visit my family,” you know. I’ve never been able to comprehend that this is it. My life is going to end because of this.
With 18 members of his family, he had been on a five-day Thanksgiving trip when he went overboard. The ship was headed for Cozumel, Mexico.
While not “intoxicated,” according to Grimes, he and his sister had a few beers after he won an air guitar competition.
The outdoorsman also claims that after falling from the ship, he was left to fight off a shark while floating in the ocean.
I assumed it was a shark, he continued. I mean, it came up on me really quickly and submerged, but I could see it and it wasn’t a shark. I was swimming in one way when I glanced around and caught a glimpse of it.
It came up and knocked one of my legs, so I kicked it with the other leg since it had more of a flat mouth. I was afraid of it since I didn’t know what it was or how huge it was. I could only make out a fin.
There came a stick floating by. It seemed to be bamboo, so I began chewing on it. While I wouldn’t say it tasted very wonderful, it did provide a flavor in my tongue other than salt water.
I wondered, “You know, how much longer am I going to have to stay out here,” as the water began to get cooler as the day turned back into night.
I felt like I was intended to go because, “You know, the fall didn’t kill me, you know, sea monsters didn’t devour me.”
Richard Hoefle, an aviation survival technician with the US Coast Guard, said that when Grimes’ four-man team came to save his life, he was “near his limit.”
“Other people break down and weep, some people are in shock and don’t know what’s happening, some people are joyful and behave a bit crazy because they are so pleased to be out of the circumstance that they are in,” he said in an interview with 4WWL.
“Mr. Grimes had no more.” He had no vigor. He was at his wits’ end. He had, in my opinion, about a minute and thirty seconds remaining before we lost him entirely.
Dramatic video of Grimes fighting the waves is followed by footage of his rescue from the Coast Guard.
They searched the boat twice or three times for me, Grimes continued.
“I had taken off my socks and everything and was trying to make myself visible by waving them over my head when the light finally struck me, I heard it, we grabbed him, and saw a person coming down from the helicopter and it was moving towards me and right there I thought, man, I saw the light.”
“Well, the first thing I really told him was that I wasn’t wearing any clothing. I depleted myself of everything.
He said that was okay. I was simply thinking, “Thank you, you are like a guardian angel,” as he instructed me to hang on to this life vest as he said, “Okay.”
I swam as quickly as I could to him. He fell into the rescue sling as soon as I pushed it under his arms as I approached him. He had no more to give.
“It gave me new eyes.” I suppose I take everything for granted. Many individuals do. Because I truly didn’t get to go on this trip, I would be open to taking another one.
Grimes claimed that he lost 20 pounds while treading water. He was taken to a hospital in New Orleans shortly after the event.
The US Coast Guard published footage of the dramatic moment Grimes was lifted out of the Gulf of Mexico after 15 hours. It depicts him struggling mightily to keep his head above the rising waters.
He briefly disappears but is able to fight his way back above the turbulent sea off the coast of Louisiana.
At 8.25 p.m. in the pitch-black, rescuers eventually succeeded in using a basket hanging from a helicopter to pull him out of the sea.
He was reportedly dehydrated and hypothermic, according to the Coast Guard.
The guy was found struggling in the sea earlier that evening by a tanker, who then performed the remarkable rescue.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the mariner who discovered the visitor in the water both deserve particular thanks, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
All public spaces on cruise ships have safety barriers that adhere to U.S. Coast Guard guidelines and prevent passengers from falling over.
“Guests must never, ever climb the railings.” Only by deliberately climbing up and over the safety obstacles is it possible to fall overboard.
The U.S. Coast Guard has now freed the ship, and it will continue on its voyage to Cozumel, according to a statement from Carnival Valor. “Carnival Valor retraced its path to facilitate the search and rescue,” the ship added.
The family members of the missing guest who were sailing with him and are still on board are receiving assistance from Carnival’s Care Team.
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