A Peruvian fisherman who spent 95 days lost at sea in the Pacific Ocean has told how he ate cockroaches, birds and sea turtles to survive.
Máximo Napa Castro, 61, had left on December 7 for a fishing trip from Marcona, a city on the southern Peruvian coast.
He took enough food for a trip of two weeks, but ten days later, stormy weather threw his boat out of the race and finished drifting in the Pacific.
His family launched a search, but the maritime patrols of Peru were unable to find him until last Wednesday when an Ecuadorian fishing patrol discovered him about 680 miles off the coast, heavily dried out and in critical condition.
“I didn't want to die,” Napa said in a tearful interview after reunification with his brother, in Paita, near the Ecuadorian border.
“I ate cockroaches, birds, the last thing I ate was turtles.”
He said he remained strong by thinking of his family, including his two -month -old granddaughter.
Napa says he has succeeded in surviving on rainwater that he had collected on the boat, but soon had no food anymore and eventually spent the last 15 days without food.
Máximo Napa Castro, 61, on the right, left for a fishing trip from Marcona, a city on the southern Peruvian coast, on December 7, and brought lost for 95 days to sea in the Pacific Ocean
Napa is seen that he embraces his brother after he finally returns to the dry country after 95 days
Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa Castro with one of his boats placed in a photo placed by his son
“I had a granddaughter who is a few months old, I held her. Every day I thought of my mother, “he said. “I am grateful to God that He gave me a second chance.
His mother, Elena Castro, told the local media that although her family members had remained optimistic, she had started losing the hope.
“I told the Lord, whether he is alive or dead now, just bring him back to me, even if it is alone to see him,” she told TV Peru. “But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he comes back, he comes back. '
Napa's daughter Inés Napa Torres fought to the Ecuadorian fishermen who save her father's life.
“It's a miracle that my father was found,” she told RPP Radio. “We, as a family, have never given up the hope of finding him.”
“Thank you, Ecuadorian brothers, for saving my father Gatón, God bless you,” she wrote in a message to Facebook.
Napa hugged his mother who was seen from ear to ear.
Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa, 61, receives medical help on his arrival in Paita
Napa was driven to the hospital to get further medical attention
NAPA is seen on board a vessel, in which its rescuers are returned to the coast
'Every day is fear of the whole family and I understand my grandmother's pain because as a mother I understand her. We never thought we would go through this situation, I wouldn't want anyone, we won't lose hope, daddy, to find you, “she had written on Facebook a week earlier.
Napa underwent further medical checks in the Nuestra Señora hospital in Paita before he was fired on Saturday and went to the south to the capital, Lima.
“Mr Napa came in good physical condition. He could walk, wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition, “said a Peruvian navy port captain, Jorge González.
