If you were stranded for three months in the Pacific Ocean with nothing to drink but rainwater and nothing to eat but raw fish, how would you find the motivation to keep going? For 51-year-old Australian sailor Tim Shaddock, the answer was his dog Bella.
In April, Shaddock set out from La Paz, Mexico to French Polynesia when his boat was disabled by bad weather a few weeks into the journey. A combination of strong survival skills and sheer luck saw a tuna trawler’s helicopter notice the stricken catamaran months later.
“I have been through a very difficult ordeal at sea,” he said immediately following his rescue. “I’m just needing rest and good food because I have been alone at sea a long time.”
Shaddock’s fishing gear, rain-water rationing and sunburn avoidance were all critical to him surviving, according to ocean-survival expert Mike Tipton. Not to mention, of course, his K-9 companion. “I think that may have well made the difference,” Tipton said about Bella.
Shaddock has yet to reach shore, but he is being attended to by doctors aboard the tuna trawler. Aside from some malnourishment, he and Bella appear to be in good health.
“I’m glad he looked after his dog too,” bec89michaels commented on TikTok.
“That dog would have kept him sane, good on ‘em!” indiehindley added. “Man’s best friend title still stands strong!”
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