I cannot believe how this college student from the southern New Jersey area withstood such a shocking and tragic ordeal stranded out at sea for a constant 16-hours of swimming off Honduras; and after the grueling long swim, she swam to safety, according to a myfoxny.com news report of July 28, 2013.
The student, Heather Barnes, was collecting coral samples around 4 a.m. on Friday morning for a project she was working on for the New College of Florida. Barnes was searching for coral samples and as she did so, she began to get cramps and she realized that she was being pulled out to sea.
Barnes stated on her Facebook page, “She came to the reality that she must swim to reach safety.”
Barnes wrote in a touching story: “I tried to stay in the same spot thinking people will search for me, but after two hours, I still didn’t see anyone. I realized if I’m to survive, I’ll have to swim back to where I had started, and with blisters and sunburns, jellyfish stings, and hallucinations from dehydration, I made it to Lion’s head on our island and collapsed on the shore where two locals carried me and gave me water and kayaked me back to the resort where people poured from every building, hugging and kissing me.”
Barnes stated, “Two national governments, coast guards, scuba divers, kayakers and locals were searching to located her but they were all conducting their search in the wrong direction.”
Barnes is back in the Florida area where she is recovering from her long swim, sunburn, and jellyfish stings; and she said, “She’s ready to just take a break away from the beach for awhile.”
It’s my opinion this young lady deserves a lot of credit for her will and faith because without it she would have never survived swimming for 16-hours; but her constant drive to keep pushing forward to make it back to her original destination and he will to live gave her the power to do so. It’s my opinion angels were watching over her.
Writer of this article is Barbara Kasey Smith as reported on myfoxny.com
Source:
myfoxny.com