Australian lost at sea with a dog opens up about 3-month ordeal: ‘I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it’
- Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock is back on dry land and looking forward to seeing his family in Australia again – but Bella the dog won’t be joining him
- The 54-year-old couldn’t say exactly why he’d tried to sail solo to French Polynesia from Mexico across the Pacific Ocean, except that he enjoys it
An Australian sailor who was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months says that he is grateful to be alive after setting foot on dry land for the first time since their ordeal began.
Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, disembarked in the Mexican city of Manzanillo on Tuesday local time after being examined on board the boat that rescued him, the Maria Delia.
“I’m feeling all right. I’m feeling a lot better than I was, I tell ya,” said Shaddock, smiling, bearded and thin, on the dock in the port city about 337km (210 miles) west of Mexico City.
“To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” Shaddock said, adding that he and his “amazing” dog Bella are both doing well.
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Australian man and dog rescued after 2 months adrift off the coast of Mexico
