A Peruvian fisherman who spent 95 days trapped in the Pacific Ocean , consuming cockroaches, birds, and marine life turtles To stay alive, he is destined to be reunited with his family.
On December 7, Maximo Napa departed for a fishing expedition from Marcona, a coastal locality in southern Peru.
He prepared provisions for a journey of two weeks, yet after ten days at sea, rough weather pushed his vessel off its path, leaving him stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
His relatives initiated a search effort; however, Peru's naval patrols couldn’t find him until Wednesday. That’s when an Ecuadorian fisheries monitoring team spotted him approximately 680 miles (1,094 kilometers) offshore from their nation’s coastline, severely dehydrated and in serious distress.
“I didn’t want to die,” Napa said to Reuters upon being reunited with his brother in Paita, close to the Ecuadorian border. “I survived by eating cockroaches, birds, and my last meal before rescue was turtle.”
He remained resilient by contemplating his family, which includes his two-month-old granddaughter, despite enduring periods where he only had rainwater to survive after exhausting all food supplies, eventually going the final 15 days without eating anything.
He mentioned that he thinks about his mother every day. He expressed gratitude to God for providing him a second opportunity.
His mother, Elena Castro, informed local media that even though her family members remained hopeful, she herself had started to lose faith.
“I said to the Lord, whether He’s alive or dead, please return Him to me, even if only for a moment,” she shared with TV Peru.
"But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he'll come back, he'll come back."
Napa was due for additional medical examinations in Paita prior to moving south towards Lima.
His niece, Leyla Torres Napa, mentioned that the family intended to hold a celebration for his birthday, as it went unmarked while he was missing at sea.
She stated, "His birthday stands out as special since all he had to consume while at sea was just a tiny biscuit. Therefore, it holds great significance for us to commemorate this occasion, as it feels like he has been born again from our perspective."
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