“I was surrounded by water on all sides… and yet, not a drop could save me.” 🌊💔
It all started with an illusion: to cross the Atlantic alone aboard my sailboat. However, just a few days later, a fierce storm wrecked the vessel in the middle of the ocean. I jumped into the lifeboat with empty hands: without provisions, without drinking water, and without knowing if I would see a new dawn. What hit me the hardest was not the scorching sun or the sharks circling my small raft. It was the silence… the kind that echoes in your head when hope begins to fade. 🥵🛶
I floated for 76 days in the vastness of the sea. I fished with my hands, collected rainwater in improvised bottles, and battled the hallucinations that whispered to me that it no longer made sense to continue. Each day became a pulse between giving up or holding on a little longer. I lost over 20 kilos, my skin was torn by the sun, and my mind was teetering on the edge of collapse… but every night, when I looked at the stars, I reminded myself that I had to return home. ✨🐟
A fishing boat finally found me. I could barely pronounce words. My body was exhausted, destroyed… but my spirit remained intact. And I understood that one does not stay alive solely on food. You survive when there is a reason, even if it’s an intimate promise made in silence. Today, I no longer define myself just as a survivor: I am proof that the body endures more than we imagine, but it is the will of the soul that decides whether we move forward. 💪🌅
“When you think you can’t go on, remember this: endure one more day. Sometimes, one more day is all you need to change everything.”
– Steven Callahan