SYDNEY (Reuters) - A former New Zealand navy diver left adrift at sea
for three days survived by eating crayfish and sea slugs after he became
separated from friends while diving near an island off the country's coast.
Robert Hewitt, 38, was suffering hypothermia and severe dehydration when
he was found in mist and rain by former navy colleagues who joined
police divers after an air search was called off, New Zealand Press
Association reported.
"This defies survivability, it's bloody awesome," said police search and
rescue Senior Sergeant Bruce Johnson.
Hewitt was found wearing only the bottom of his wetsuit and a yellow
catch bag containing the remains of the crayfish and sea slugs that he
had eaten during the ordeal, NZPA reported.
Johnson said the diver may have been protected by the thickness of his
navy-issue divesuit, and was alert and "talked non stop" when rescued.
The alarm was raised Sunday when Hewitt, the older brother of a former
All Black rugby player, failed to surface from a dive off Mana Island,
north of Wellington on the country's North Island.
