The crew of Animal Planet’s River Monsters spotted and saved a man who had been stranded on a mostly deserted island off the coast of Australia.
“He had said his last prayer,” said River Monster director Stephen Shearman. “He was prepared to die and meet his maker.”
Shearman’s team had been searching for places to film along the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands, when one of his crew memebers spotted “this guy with no clothes was running out of the cave, waving his arms out.”
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The stranded man, Tremine, is an experienced fisherman whose boat slowly drifted away from him while he was out digging for oysters.
“He had tried to walk back, got beaten by the sun, and made his way back to the beach,” Shearman said. “Meanwhile, he had suffered from sunstroke and was unable to go any further. He then spent that first night on the beach, and the next morning he tried again, but the sun had gotten to be too much for him, and at this point, he is now trapped.”
Termini was estimated to have been stranded without food, water, or shelter for more than 60 hours.
The crew failed in their first attempt to feed Termini during the boat ride back to their cabin.
“His body wasn’t ready for that at all. His condition was quite serious,” Shearman said. “Once he got rehydrated, his strength gained straight back. His recovery was quick.”
Since being rescued last November, the River Monsters crew has kept in touch with the man they saved. Termini said the ordeal has dramatically changed his outlook on life.
“He’s given up smoking, but he’s promised God he’s going to start smoking again. If he had a lighter, he’d be able to cook, and he’d have a fire,” Shearman recalled, laughing.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
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