'I survived for 3 days in an air pocket on sunken boat - I could hear friends being eaten alive'
As families of missing passengers onboard the Bayesian superyacht cling to the air pocket theory, the Irish Mirror takes a look at people who survived underwater in air bubbles
The families of loved ones missing from the sunken Bayesian superyacht are holding out hope for air pockets - though the reality of living in one is terrifying.
In the early hours of Monday morning, the 56-metre luxury yacht, carrying 22 passengers, sank off the coast of Italy after it was suddenly hit by a tornado. Fifteen people have been rescued and one person - chef Recaldo Thomas - has tragically died, while six people - including British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and his teenage daughter - remain missing.
Divers from Italian emergency services continue to look for those who have not been accounted for - but time is running out. The sunken vessel currently sits fully intact on its starboard side around 165ft underwater on the seabed. Due to its location, experienced divers can only explore the wreckage for around 12 minutes at a time.
READ MORE: Pictured: Irish woman who miraculously survived the Italian superyacht disaster
READ MORE: Mike Lynch missing - What we know about Irish-born tycoon amid Sicily yacht sinking tragedy
With a maximum of two to three days before the situation becomes fatal, relatives are fearful. However, it is possible that survivors are trapped inside, thanks to air pockets that may have stopped them from drowning. Vincenzo Zagarola, a spokesperson for the Italian Coastguard, said: "We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea."
Harrison Okene, then 29, astounded the world when he survived three days in a capsized boat in May 2013. He was working as a ship's cook off the coast of Nigeria when a wave hit the boat and sent it 100ft under the water. Harrison struggled to escape and instead settled in an air pocket in one of the bathrooms - for 60 hours.
"The air couldn't go out of the boat completely. Some had to be trapped inside," he told The Guardian last year. He kept his head in the small pocket of air near the ceiling, and shut away in the dark, he could hear his colleagues "calling and crying" as they tragically drowned and were eaten by sharks. He survived on a tin of sardines and a can of cola.
Harrison had consumed so much salt water that his throat throbbed and his tongue peeled, while crayfish bit his legs and arms. But he remained calm by praying and singing church songs. "I tried to kill the fear in front of me," he said. "Because one thing that can kill you fast is fear. That panic that comes at you, it kills you before your real death comes. Because the moment you start panicking, you use too much oxygen."
He had no idea how much time had passed when he became aware of a "reflection of light" and saw a diver. Video footage from the camera on the diver's helmet revealed the moment Okene is saved. The diver initially assumed he was dead and said: "We found one, yeah." But then he feels Okene's hand grip his and says: "He's alive! He's alive!"
Okene would have died if he had returned straight to the surface, so he spent the following three days in a compression chamber. But his terrifying experience didn't put him off the sea. In 2015, he decided to retrain as a diver. He said: "I have faced a lot of my fears in my life, and I decided to face this once and for all."
Meanwhile, sailor and businessman Tony Bullimore famously survived four days in a capsized boat during a solo round-the-world race. The former Royal Marine, who died aged 79 in 2018, was dramatically rescued off the coast of Australia during the Vendée Globe race in January 1997. He was suffering from dehydration and mild hypothermia and had lost the top of a frostbitten finger.
For 140 hours, the then-57-year-old remained crouched in the hull of his upturned yacht in the freezing Antarctic Ocean, eating chocolate and drinking water to stay alive after finding an air pocket. Tony, who lived in Bristol, was feared to have drowned until a ship spotted the yacht and raised the alarm. Tony's first request after being rescued was a hot cup of tea.
Of the moment his boat capsized, Tony said: "I was sitting there with cup of tea and then bang, the keel popped off. The moment it banged off, the boat went over so quick. Then it rolled and rolled and rolled." He continued: "Then I was standing on the bottom of the boat and for most of the night it was okay. Then the window went in and water started coming in like Niagara Falls."
Tony fell back on his military training and made a makeshift hammock from cargo netting in a tiny air pocket of the upturned boat. After his rescue, an Australian military spokesman said his survival was "remarkable". In 2017, Tony remembered the Australians who saved him. He said: "I owe my life to Australia, I'll never forget what their great people did for me."
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