The man, Romualdo Macedo Rodriguez, is a fisherman. During a fishing trip in early August that was supposed to last three days, cracks in his boat began to fill with water, causing the ship to sink off the coast of northern Brazil. He was able to jump inside the floating cooler to survive, and a group of fishermen found him 11 days later off the coast of Suriname.
According to Record TV, he was treated in a hospital in Suriname and authorities held him for a few days because he did not have the proper documents. He is now back in Brazil. He added, “I was born again. I thought I wasn’t going to tell this story, but I came back here.”
“I was desperate. I thought my end was coming. But thank God, God gave me another chance,” Rodriguez told Record TV. “I saw it (the freezer) wasn’t sinking. I jumped[into it]and it fell to one side and kept to normal.”
The fisherman says he doesn’t know how to swim.
“Sharks surrounded the freezer, but they went away. I thought (I’m going to be attacked). I stayed at the top (of the freezer), I didn’t sleep, I didn’t sleep. I saw dawn, dusk asking God to send someone to save me.” Eventually water started creeping inside the freezer, and he says he used his hand to get it out. He had no food or water.
“I was thinking of my children and my wife. Every day I was thinking of my mum and dad and all my family. It gave me strength and hope…but for now I thought there was no other way,” he told the TV record.
When the fishermen arrived, he said, “I heard a noise, and there was a boat above the freezer. They just thought there was no one there. Then they slowly stopped, and my vision was already fading, and then I said, ‘Oh my god the boat.’ I raised my arm and called for help.” Rodriguez was grateful to be alive.
“This freezer has been God in my life. The only thing I have is a refrigerator. It was a miracle.”
