John Low, 60 was alone, drifting in the sea for four days and three nights after the boat he was in capsized. Luckily for him, he managed to grab a ring buoy and his backpack which contained his passport and IC.
Low was alone on the boat waiting for the boatman to come back with more fuel to refuel the boat. However, the unpredictable weather turned bad and water started seeping into the boat. The boat sunk and when the boatmen returned, he was nowhere in sight, pulled away by the strong currents.
In the first few days, Low had to drink the seawater which made him vomit. To make matters worse, the heat from the sun charred his skin during the day. He even had to remove his clothes because he was hurting from the burns when he rubbed against the linen.
Low also had to swim around at night to keep his body temperature up as it was too cold.
Low then started to hallucinate from the dehydration and starvation. To keep himself sane, he started talking to his life buoy and Rolex which he named 'Boy' and 'Brother'.
Thankfully for him, on the fourth day of being out in the sea, he saw a ship. The ship's crew members spotted him and knowing that he was about to be rescued, Low finally allowed himself to drift off into unconsciousness.
After being rescued by the boat, Low was airlifted by an RSAF helicopter to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) where he spent a total of 7 days in the ICU.
According to witnesses, Low's skin was so badly burnt that it was stuck to the life buoy.
Fortunately for him, he managed to recover and is thankful for those who played a part in his rescue, calling them "angel saviours".
Hope that nothing like this ever happens to anybody again.
