Kayaker Spends 2 Days Clinging To Buoy After Capsizing In The English Channel
What started as a quiet paddle through the English Channel quickly turned into a life-threatening situation when Daniel Lewis’ kayak overturned.
The 28-year-old clung to a buoy and waited there as the sun slipped below the horizon and night came. He kept holding the buoy until two long days passed – and that’s when he spotted a ship.
The Dutch fishing boat Madeleine was passing through a water shipping lane of the Dover Strait bordering the English Channel. Captain Teunis de Boer was scoping out the area for hazards when he noticed something unusual: a man in the water waving for help!
In an interview with the BBC, the captain explained, “I picked up the binoculars and saw a young man just in his swimming trunks waiving at us like a madman. He was clearly in distress.”
In a press release, the Maritime Prefecture of The Channel and the North Sea said that Lewis left the British coast approximately 48 hours before he was found by the Madeleine crew.
He allegedly took an inflatable kayak into the water and began paddling, but ended up capsizing. Having few other options, Lewis clung to the buoy in desperation and held on for dear life.
As soon as the crew found him and pulled him on board, they called French Coast Guard for medical help.
The boat’s crew shared on Facebook that Lewis suffered from “significant hypothermia,” but he did have some food in his belly from eating mussels, seaweed, and crabs that were on the buoy.
The French Coast Guard ended up airlifting Lewis straight from the Madeleine and transferring him to a medical center.
The crew shared a video on Twitter of Lewis being lifted from the boat and you can see that, despite the unfavorable conditions, he’s still in great spirits.
Britse kajakker na dagen op een lichtboei door Nederlandse vissers gered. Maakt het goed. pic.twitter.com/0EEZ57mTxl
— EMK-vissers (@EMKvissers) October 27, 2022
According to Mail Online, Lewis is expected to make a full recovery.
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