Stories about world records are often stories about fierce competition and glory. But the
holder of this stunning record once famously said that he really hopes no one will ever
have to beat it. And it’s not because he wants it only for himself, but because we’re
talking about Poon Lim, the man that survived over 4 months on a raft, stranded in the ocean.
To be exact, he’d been there for 133 hard days straight. He survived everything a shipwreck
survivor might have the misfortune of going through! Thirst, starvation, raging storms,
desperation and the ever-menacing presence of bloodthirsty sea predators – you name
it, Poon Lim had to deal with it! But how could all this happen to him in the first
place? The year was 1942. As you can imagine, the
sea was full of wreckage as World War II was approaching its peak. Great Britain, traditionally
strong at sea, was struggling. Most importantly, there was a visible shortage of even semi-qualified
sailors. They called for help and China, of all countries, answered. A lot of young Chinese
people went to become sailors on board UK ships and Poon Lim was one of them. He was
assigned to the merchant ship called SS Ben Lomond as a steward. Not very fast, not maneuverable,
and not well armed either, this ship was like a sitting duck. On November 23, when SS Ben
Lomond tried to cross the Atlantic Ocean, it was hit by two torpedoes from a German
U-boat. The ship sank so fast, that she sucked down water around her. All 55 members of the
crew were dragged into the depth. When they finally emerged above water, thanks only to
life jackets, they were scattered and disoriented. Poon Lim was one of 11 lucky survivors, though
he wasn’t lucky enough. The 10 others were soon saved by passing ships. Lim’s only
hope was the life raft from SS Ben Lomond. The raft itself was well supplied, but not
at all suited for a drift this long! It was 8 by 8 ft (2.5 m), had some sort of tent to
provide shade and cover from the rain, tin cans of dry biscuits, 40 liters of water,
and signal flares. The position Poon Lim found himself in was not pleasant at all. He couldn’t
even swim and had to tie himself to the raft; he was too terrified to even think about falling
overboard. Remember being lost as a kid, let’s say
in a shopping mall - at first, you’re hopeful that your parents will find you but then panic
creeps in. What if they don’t find you? This is a weak representation of what it is
to be lost in the wild. Add being surrounded by water and being completely terrified! As
his water supplies dried up, Poon Lim realized that he was in real danger. Fortunately, he
didn’t panic, and soon developed such strong survival skills that he later helped to write
books about survival at sea. Still consumed by fear, though, he tied knots on a rope to
count his days of being adrift. Soon he quit counting days and started to count full moons.
He used his waterproof tent to collect fresh water. Then he realized that biscuits won’t
last forever either and began to prepare new tools. He took apart an electric torch to
obtain a long wire, pulled a nail out of the raft with his own teeth and bent it like a
fishing hook. Soon he had himself both fresh water and food supplies. He knew how hard
it would be to eat only raw fish every day. That can be dangerous! But what do you do
if you have absolutely nothing else besides raw fish? He decided that he could at least
dry it under the sun for the purpose of cleaning it. That’s smart!
But even after that, the hardships of Poon Lim didn’t end. He was still stranded at
sea. He saw passing ships many times, but they didn’t notice him. Once, he even saw
a German U-boat like the one that began this nightmare. As Lim remembered, the crew of
the U-boat saw him, but did absolutely nothing! Another encounter was a bit more cheerful,
when a plane passing by saw Poon Lim’s raft. They dropped a buoy to him to mark the place
and make it more visible from the skies. But then, of course, a storm came.
Storms became a problem, not only for the flimsy raft itself, but most importantly for
the supplies. In a single stormy night, they were all gone! All the jars with fresh water,
all the dried fish – everything! After this storm, Lim was so exhausted and thirsty that
he couldn’t get more food for himself. And as if that wasn’t enough – in the following
days the sun was ruthless and not a single raincloud passed by. Poon Lim would have just
given up, if it wasn’t for a bird that landed on his raft. Out of despair, he put together
all of his remaining strength and jumped on the unfortunate bird, soon calling it his
lunch. For days these birds were his salvation, until he recovered enough energy to continue
fishing. But soon came the next problem. It seemed like there were no fish at all! Lim
discovered what was happening: the remains of the birds lured sharks to Poon Lim’s
raft and fish decided to swim for their lives as fast as they could.
I’m sure that I would do the same if given a choice, but that obviously wasn’t the
case at all for Poon Lim. The offense became his only defense against this new threat.
For crying out loud, he wanted to eat just as much as those sharks and probably was even
angrier then them at this point. He used his improvised fishing tools once more, but this
time bird meat served as bait. A hungry shark attacked the bait and Poon used his last bit
of energy to pull it into the raft. What followed that was the ultimate wrestling match between
a furious shark out of the water and a starving human. Lim was injured several times, but
he won at last. One day, Poon Lim noticed that the water around
him changed color and he rejoiced, because that could only mean one thing – he was
near land. It was Brazil, in fact. Three fishermen finally rescued Poon Lim there, on April 5,
1943. After two weeks in the hospital, he was ready to go back to Britain, where he
was rewarded with a British Empire Medal and a golden watch from his employers as a symbolic
compensation. Not much, but at least it’s something! And is it even possible to compensate
for something as hard as 133 days stranded in a life raft?
So what do you think, what reward would such an endurance and a will to live deserve? Let
us know in the comment section! And don’t forget to leave this video a like, share it
with your friends, and here are some more cool videos to check out from the Bright Side
of life!