SUVA, Fiji – Three teenaged boys who spent 50 days adrift in the South Pacific Ocean in a tiny boat walked ashore on shaky legs Friday, as the people of their village celebrated what they called the miracle of bringing them back from the dead.
The trio _ Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14 _ told rescuers they survived on rainwater they collected, a handful of coconuts, raw fish and a seagull that landed on their 12-foot (3.5-meter) -long aluminum boat.
The boys set off Oct. 5 from their home island to one nearby. It's not known how they went missing, but the outboard motor may have broken down at sea.
Worried family members reported them missing and the New Zealand air force launched a sea search. No sign of the tiny boat was found, and the village of 500 people held memorial services, expecting never to see the boys again.
They were picked up Wednesday by a fishing trawler, undernourished, severely dehydrated and badly sunburned, but otherwise well. The ship's first mate said the area they were in is way off any normal commercial shipping routes.
They drifted 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from where they set out _ Tokelau, a bucolic collection of coral atolls north of Samoa that is New Zealand's territory.
A Fiji navy patrol boat met the trawler Friday and escorted it into the harbor of its capital, Suva. The teens were met by New Zealand consular officials and taken directly to a hospital for medical checks. Looking thin, the three walked off the boat without speaking to reporters.
Tai Fredricsen, first mate aboard the tuna boat San Nikuna, said a crew member spotted a small vessel bobbing in the open sea northeast of Fiji on Wednesday. "We knew it was a little weird," he said.
As it edged closer to investigate, the crew saw three people aboard waving frantically and asked them if they needed help.
personal view:
my point of view was not about the incident as being a miracle. when i am reading this article, all i was thinking about was how the boys are feeling of the days that they are out at sea in sure a small boat without any food nor water. sea water cannot be drank, the can fish in the open sea. its close to the end of the year, its the monsoon season, rough seas at nights. in the article, they drifted 800 miles, haven't they given up on the chance of survival.they must be thinking about all the things that they have yet to do. i think these boys are Strong boys who have faith in what was going to happen. when they was found, they were mentally high yet physically weak. this shows that they must have been telling each other to hold on, help will the there. they will definitely treasure their lives now.
Written by: jason tan jun jie
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