Scott Thompson went sailing in a motorboat in the waters of the Santa Barbara Channel. As the man stood on the edge of the boat, the wind started to blow. A big wave hit the side of the boat. He lost his balance and fell into the water.
The boat began to drift with the current and Scott tried to reach it, but it was moving away fast. When he realised he could not catch up, he panicked. The shore was 12 kilometres away. But Scott pulled himself together and decided to swim to the oil platform.
The man said that when fear came over him, he remembered the people close to him. It gave him strength. Suddenly Scott heard a big splash and a seal’s head appeared nearby. “I’ve never been so excited to see a living creature in my life!” “I thought, ‘Oh my God, there’s something alive here next to me,'” Scott recalled. The seal swam nearby and looked at Scott. The seal nudged the man twice when he stopped paddling to look around and figure out where to swim next.
By the time the seal went underwater, Scott had swum for four hours. It got dark, and the swimmer began to tire. After about an hour more, he saw a light and heard the sound of an engine. The people on the platform spotted him and helped him. Scott was vomiting salty water. The Coast Guard took him to the hospital. But the man was discharged the next day, all tests were normal. Soon after, a motorboat was found. There was minor damage to the boat.
Scott is now with his family and happy to be alive!
