In January 2014, on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, a "wild man" attracted the attention of locals.
I saw him faltering, skinny and bone-covered, his hair and beard curled into a mess, and a knife in his hand!
The first to find him was a small couple who plucked up the courage to rescue him and watched him eat 5 meals of food for ordinary people in 12 hours.
It wasn't until the police came to pick up the "Savage" that they initially understood his identity:
This is one of two fishermen who left Mexico to fish more than a year ago and disappeared due to the storm, Alvarenga.
But new questions followed.
Mexico is 10,000 kilometers from this small island and has been drifting for 14 months, how did Alvarenga survive at sea? How did his partner not survive together?
On the day Alvarenga's deeds were reported, all kinds of rumors and speculations flew into the streets like snowflakes.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" > shark catcher and rookie</h1>
The story begins 14 months ago.
Alvarenga, having made an enemy in his hometown, abandoned his wife and children and fled to a small coastal town in Mexico to earn a living by fishing.
He fishes faster and more than others, and dares to take risks, has no bad intentions, and his only hobby is drinking wine and eating meat, so in the fishermen's circle, the popularity is also very good.
On this day, although the weather forecast said that there would be a storm, Alvarenga did not want to let go of the newly discovered fish, took his assistant Coroba, and went to sea.
Before leaving, he said to his boss: "Before long, I will bring this rookie back, and I can catch the evening party!" ”
How could Alvarenga have never imagined that he would regret this decision for the rest of his life.
Not long after going to sea, they encountered a storm.
At first, Alvarenga was still very confident, directing Coroba to scoop water, collect nets, and occasionally complain that he was seasick and messed up.
Soon, he found that things were not as he expected, the waves were higher and higher, the storm showed no sign of subsiding, the sky was getting dark, and the sharks began to swim over and crash into the boat!
Alvarenga is a veteran after all, he has been running at sea for 10 years, accumulating 570,000 kilometers;
Half the distance from Mexico to the moon and back, he firmly believes that in 4 to 6 hours they will be safely back to Hong Kong.
At this time, unable to complain that the newcomers were not powerful, Alvarenga found the order to eat Coroba to recover his strength, and then according to experience, he drove the ship to stop and stop, dodging the wind and waves.
By 9 a.m. the next morning, Alvarenga saw the outline of the coast, which meant they were only 20 kilometers from land.
No matter how hard it is, it can be reached in 2 hours, which makes both of them breathe a sigh of relief.
Who knows, just at this moment, the engine made a strange noise, and then, a complete strike.
Alvarenga immediately used the radio to ask his boss for support, and after getting a reply that "we'll pick you up now," the radio ran out of power.
After a few cold nights, they understood, and the last glimmer of hope of being saved was shattered.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" > life and death depended on each other for 118 days and nights</h1>
In the storm, except for the freezer used to shelter from the wind and rain, almost everything was swept into the sea by the big waves.
In addition to facing a silent uninhabited sea, the most serious reality of the two people is: how to survive?
There is no fresh water at sea, the temperature difference between day and night is huge, and water loss can easily be life-threatening.
At the same time, hunger also tormented them, and Alvarenga even caught a few jellyfish and swallowed them raw.
The existential crisis forced the veteran to calm down, and he first started with the idea of triggering the fish.
This fish will float still after eating, and Alvarenga will take advantage of this short 1 minute to wrap his hands around the fish basket and quickly catch the fish;
Coroba is responsible for slaughtering and cutting the fish, which, after drying, becomes the source of energy for both people.
But that's not enough.
Alvarenga commanded Coroba again and began to pick up the garbage.
They don't spare any plastic products floating from the sea, plastic bottles are used to collect rainwater, and plastic bags may contain ready-made food.
However, the good times did not last long, and on the days when they could not pick up the garbage and it did not rain, the two fell back into hunger and thirst, and once lived by licking the morning dew on the boat board.
Until one night, a turtle hit their boat.
Alvarenga immediately grabbed it, drank its blood with the engine tube as a straw, and then chopped the turtle meat and put it in the sun, solving the problems of drinking water and food.
He was sincerely grateful for the favors and gifts of the sea.
In the time that followed, Alvarenga almost evolved into the primitive sea hunter.
He found parts from the engine, beat them into iron bars, bent one end of the iron bars, sent them to the edge of the propeller and grinded them for several hours, making a fish hook;
He also developed the skill of catching seabirds with his bare hands and hung them on the side of the boat with plastic bottles as fish cages.
In this way, the two have a stable source of food and solve the most basic physiological needs.
But Coroba's spirit is on its way to collapse, and Alvarenga is worried.
Every day, Alvarenga uses his imagination to paint a picture of Coroba's "world after going ashore", or pretending to go to the supermarket to buy what Coroba wants to eat.
When Coroba was in better shape, he would sing to Alvarenga, and the two would talk about their childhood, and even plan a "Christmas dinner".
Fate was so elusive that just after this meal, Coroba's situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
After Alvarenga promised him to visit his mother, he left this life-and-death companion and the land he could never return to.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" > why did he survive? </h1>
Losing his only companion, the blow to Alvarenga was fatal.
When there are two people, he takes the initiative to take on the responsibility of caring for his companions, and his mental state will be more stable, just like in wartime, the medical staff responsible for rescuing the wounded will have a stronger will to survive.
But now, the responsibility on Alvarenga's shoulders had suddenly been taken away, and he was lost, talking to himself, crying and blaming himself.
Thinking again, more than 20 times he encountered a large boat passing by, but he could not be rescued, and he once wanted to give up survival.
It was the belief that he wanted to see his daughter's side, so that he could rekindle his fighting spirit.
He ran away from home when his daughter was one year old, and what does her daughter look like now? Do you resent your father? Are you ostracized because you didn't have a father since childhood?
To dispel negative thoughts, Alvarenga began swimming and fitness on board.
For safety, he developed a shark monitoring method to determine whether there are sharks nearby based on the status of small fish under the boat.
Gradually, Alvarenga reached the highest state of loneliness, attained a deep sense of well-being, and his heart was very peaceful, one with the sea, as if he had been reborn.
When he encountered a shark, he thought of getting a small shark to add food to himself, and also stored the shark liver as a toilet medicine;
The seabirds caught more, so he kept them in captivity, dried puffer fish for them to play, and one became his pet bird.
But how could the test given to him by God stop there?
Alvarenga drifted to a sea of extreme food deprivation, and he had to endure the pain of eating his pet bird.
The lack of fresh water and food still made him anxious, and he spent his waking hours every day fishing, catching turtles, and catching seabirds, but his fighting spirit really walked downhill.
Just as Alvarenga was on the verge of collapse, a large illuminated ship drove up, only 40 meters from Alvarenga!
Alvarenga waved desperately with his hands and shouted at them for help, and the people on board saw him and even waved at him.
However, no one informed the captain, and the big ship had no intention of slowing down, there was no life ladder or lifeboat, and the big ship went away with the noise and music of the sailors.
Alvarenga completely collapsed...
He stopped fishing, didn't care about the water coming in the boat, didn't eat, his body was getting weaker and weaker, and he lay on the deck, waiting for his last moment.
Alvarenga was so gibberish that he fell asleep until he was awakened by a cacophony of noise, and he saw the stars and lights, it was a group of fishermen!
It began to rain again, and Alvarenga wondered in despair, could it be that he had broken through the ghost gate countless times, but had to fail so close to the land?
He was not reconciled.
He began to find a way to recover some strength, cut the buoy again, and finally jumped off the boat less than 10 meters from the shore, climbed onto the shore with his hands and feet, and fainted.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" > the day of the return to civilized society</h1>
After his rescue, Alvarenga's life was not peaceful.
People did not believe his words at first, and even conspiracy theorists suspected that he had survived by eating his companions, and he tried to tell people the truth, but at that time he was too weak and mentally ill to speak often in front of him.
The reporters just wanted to rub the heat of this matter, so they speculated.
Fortunately, his family and former brethren still believed deeply in him.
Alvarenga first recognized his daughter, rested for a while, and then went to his hometown in Coroba to visit his mother, and also to obtain the forgiveness of Coroba's mother.
In the end, he had a party with his fishermen brothers, refused the boss's invitation to return to the team, returned to his hometown to continue living with his daughter, and gradually recovered his physical and mental health.
The experience of surviving at sea left Alvarenga scarred, but it was also sublimated in him.
This cruel period reflects the light of human nature. He became easily contented, often remembering days when he had nothing and was life-threatening, and simple fruits and small tortillas could make him feel happy.
Overcoming discomfort, recalling carefully, and authorizing his entire experience to be written in 438 Days, in addition to trying to get some income, he said:
"I have suffered so much for such a long time. Many people are trapped by demons, and I am not only that, but also physically devastated. If I can stick with it, then so can you. ”
A fisherman who can't even write his own name well, after fleeing his hometown, strives to survive by his own labor;
During the 438 days of drifting at sea, he never gave up his concern for others, for himself, and even for the publication of his own experiences, and he also simply hoped to inspire others.
I believe that this kind thought can continue to give him the courage to face any situation calmly in the rest of his life.
The mountains and rivers are far away, and the fireworks in the world are fireworks. Welcome to @Rabbit Bookstore, with you, read the world's good books, taste the taste of life.
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