Poon Lim, a Chinese sailor who survived alone adrift on this life raft for 133 days. Photo taken c.1943-1945
Lim survived for 133 days after the British merchant navy vessel he was travelling on was sunk by a German U-boat, in November 1942, leaving him stranded in the South Atlantic Ocean. Several others survived the initial sinking, but perished, leaving Poon the sole survivor of the attack. He subsequently clambered aboard this raft, and after slowly working his way through the rations already on board, survived by drinking rainwater and catching fish, sharks and even sea-birds.
He could not swim very well and often tied a rope from the boat to his wrist, in case he fell into the ocean. He took a wire from the flashlight and made it into a fishhook, and used hemp rope as a fishing line. He also dug a nail out of the boards on the wooden raft and bent it into a hook for larger fish. When he captured a fish, he would cut it open with a knife he fashioned out of a biscuit tin and dry it on a hemp line over the raft. Once, a large storm hit and spoiled his fish and fouled his water. Poon, barely alive, caught a bird and drank its blood to survive.
When he saw sharks, he refrained from swimming and sought to catch one, using the remnants of caught birds as bait. The first shark to pick up the taste was only a few feet long. He gulped the bait and hit the line with full force, but in preparation Poon Lim had braided the line so it would have double thickness. He also had wrapped his hands in canvas to enable him to make the catch. The shark attacked him after he brought it aboard the raft, so he used the water jug half-filled with seawater as a weapon. After subduing the shark, Poon Lim cut it open and sucked the blood from its liver. Since it hadn’t rained, he was out of water and this quenched his thirst. He sliced the fins and let them dry in the sun.
He ultimately drifted towards the coast of Brazil, where he was rescued and treated in a local hospital, in April 1943. After his return to the United Kingdom, Lin was awarded a British Empire Medal by King George VI. After the war, Lim emigrated to the United States.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.