Mariner who survived 16 days at sea lucky to be alive, doctor says
Sun Sentinel
By Linda Trischitta, Sun Sentinel
14 hrs ago
© U.S. Coast Guard/Sun Sentinel/TNS On Jan. 29, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard found Samuel Moss Jr. inside this disabled boat about 10 miles off the coast of Palm Beach County.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Being young and healthy probably saved the life of a 23-year-old man who survived 16 days at sea, before being rescued 10 miles offshore from Palm Beach County, according to health care professionals.
Samuel Moss Jr. from the Bahamas and a doctor who cared for him at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach were meeting with reporters Friday.
When Moss arrived at the hospital on Jan, 29, his electrolytes were dangerously low and his body was in starvation mode, absorbing fat to survive, said Dr. Kevin Buford.
But Buford, an assistant director in the emergency department, said paramedics had started rehydrating Moss in the ambulance, so he could move his limbs when he arrived at the hospital.
"I thought he'd make it. We specialize in stabilizing people," Buford said. The U.S. Coast Guard had plucked Moss from a newly purchased 21-foot Angler boat that was sinking in the Atlantic Ocean, 10 miles off the shore of Palm Beach County.
Moss was talking to reporters Friday about his ordeal. It was the second time in a year that authorities have rescued him. In February 2017 his boat was stranded for three days off Grand Bahama before the Royal Bahamas Defence Force found him, according to a Bahama news report.
While Moss was still hospitalized Tuesday night, his girlfriend, Lashelle Forbes, said it was because he's so "hot headed and he doesn't listen" that his record as a seaman is so bad. Moss, a lifeguard at the Baha Mar resort in Nassau, just grinned.
"I never had a doubt that God was going to take care of me," Moss said then.
Click for Full Text!
Poster Comment:
I guess he turned out better than if he was lost in space. LOL