20 Survival Stories That Put Human Endurance in Another Light

The raft initially carried water, biscuits, chocolate, flares, and a flashlight. Those supplies were never meant to last four months. Poon Lim reached the small wooden float after the British merchant ship Benlomond was torpedoed by a German submarine in the South Atlantic on November 23, 1942. Alone and unable to steer toward land, he created a daily routine before isolation could overwhelm him. Swimming kept his body active. Knots in a rope helped him count passing days.