MAN INCREDIBLY SURVIVES 438 DAYS STRANDED AT SEA WITH NO FOOD OR WATER

A man who spent 15 months at sea has shared his amazing survival story, and it's crazy. José Salvador Alvarenga had no idea that he would spend 438 days at sea when he and a friend left Mexico in 2012 for a two-day fishing trip.

He talked to Tom Armbruster, a former US ambassador to the Marshall Islands, about his experiences living there without anything to support himself. After decades of shark fishing in Mexico, Alvarenga's life would take a drastic turn on that fateful day. Alvarenga, who was supposed to go fishing with a friend, was 33 on the day of the trip.

But when the friend wasn't available, he hired 22-year-old Ezequiel Córdoba, a novice day worker. The trip was going well at first, so they chose to continue fishing even though a storm was approaching.

However, this was a bad idea. They lost most of their equipment when they tried to return to land because waves flooded the engine and caused them to drift out to sea, where the storm pounded them.

They were lost at sea by the time the storm passed, which lasted for a full week. The two came to the realization that they would have to become inventive in their hunting techniques if they were to survive.

They chose to start consuming fish, turtles, and bird blood since they had neither food nor water with them. But after consuming a bird that made him sick, Córdoba passed away, leaving Alvarenga alone. "Unfortunately, his companion became ill and was unable to handle the bird diet, especially the bird blood," Armbruster told The Sun. Alvarenga decided to release him after he started having hallucinations in which he was speaking to his deceased friend who was lying in the boat.

"His companion stayed on board for a while," he said. He was buried at sea after Mr Alvarenga spoke to him and felt as though he was losing his mind.

"He claimed to be speaking to his body, and he thought that after that he was starting to feel a little insane. You are aware that he was responding to him. He did encounter one situation where he might have been saved while he was alone at sea. He waved down the boat when he spotted a shipping container, but the crew waved back and carried on. Armbruster stated: "He gestured to a container ship that passed by.

"You could tell that that really crushed him when the men on board the crew waved and then simply continued. He most likely lost humanity and faith at that point, and he began to question whether he would ever escape this situation."

Alvarenga eventually discovered a small islet, which turned out to be a remote area of the Marshall Islands, after enduring all he had to endure to survive.

After swimming to shore on January 30, 2014, he discovered a beach house owned by a local couple who were able to call for assistance.