A man who spent three months floating around the Pacific Ocean living off raw fish and rainwater has rehomed the faithful pooch who stayed on the boat with him.
54-year-old Australian Tim Shaddock was miraculously discovered alive earlier this week after more than 90 days adrift on the open ocean.
He was attempting to sail his catamaran from Mexico’s Baja peninsula to French Polynesia, but got stuck in shark-infested waters.
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Eventually, he was rescued after being found by a fishing boat, and was brought to Manzanillo in Mexico – around 337 kilometres west of his starting point – before stepping foot back onto dry land.
“I'm feeling alright. I'm feeling a lot better than I was, I tell ya,” he said to the press.
That sounds like a bit of an understatement.
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In the press, Shaddock has praised the impact of his ‘amazing’ dog Bella, as well as thanking his rescuers.
He continued: "I'm just so grateful. I'm alive and I didn't really think I'd made it".
Bella was a stray, but the pair met up in Mexico after she kept coming back to Shaddock each day.
In the end, he decided to leave her behind in Mexico after a crew member from his rescue boat promised that he’d give her a forever home and look after her.
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"Bella sort of found me in the middle of Mexico. She's Mexican," Shaddock said.
"She's the spirit of the middle of the country and she wouldn't let me go.
“I tried to find a home for her three times and she just kept following me onto the water. She's a lot braver than I am, that's for sure."
Bella even waited around for Shaddock on the boat after he was driven away so that he could be flown back to his family in Sydney.
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Now, the dog has become an ‘immediate hit’ with the sailors, especially Genaro Rosales, a crew member on the Maria Delia boat that rescued her and Tim.
So much so, that Bella will be going home to Mexico with Rosales.
Shaddock went missing after leaving Mexico in April. The 54-year-old wanted to get to French Polynesia, but the boat was damaged in a storm, leaving them adrift on the ocean for weeks.
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Shaddock – clearly emotional – said that he had ‘many, many bad days’ during their time out there.
However, he added: “There were many good good days too. I try and find the happiness inside myself.”
He even said: “I love being alone on the ocean.”
However, this wasn’t exactly a fun time or a holiday for him, and he said that he maybe won’t be trying any more voyages this extreme in future.
“I’ll always be in the water, but I don’t know how far it will be out in the ocean,” he said.
In the end, Shaddock was rescued after a helicopter spotted him, before the fishing boat found him and Bella, bringing them to shore and safety.
Topics: World News, Australia
Tom Wood