The man in question, Romualdo Macedo Rodrigues, took his boat out for a fishing trip that was meant to last three days.
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'I thought I wouldn't be telling this story'
To his dismay, cracks in his boat started filling with water which ultimately led the vessel to sink off the coast of northern Brazil. As a last hope for survival he was able to jump inside a cooler that was in his boat. He was later found by a group of fishermen 11 days later off the coast of Suriname. Speaking to Record TV Rodrigues explained:
I was born again. I thought I wouldn't be telling this story, but I'm back here. I was desperate. I thought my end was coming. But thanks God, God gave me one more chance. I saw it (freezer) wasn't sinking. I jumped (inside it), it fell to one side and kept normal.
And added:
Sharks were surrounding the freezer, but they went away. I thought (I would be attacked). I stayed on the top (of the freezer), I didn't sleep, I didn't sleep. I saw the dawn, the dusk, asking God to send someone to rescue me.
'That freezer was God in my life'
He recounted the moment he was saved by the fishermen and explained that thinking about his family was his way of keeping the hope alive. He explained:
I was thinking about my kids, my wife. Every day I was thinking about my mother, my father, all my family. It gave me strength and hope ... but at the moment I thought there was no other way.
Adding:
I heard a noise, and there was a boat on top of the freezer. Only they thought there was no one there. Then they slowly pulled over, my vision was already fading, then I said, 'My God, the boat.' I raised my arms and asked for help. That freezer was God in my life. The only thing I had was the freezer. It was a miracle.
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