He Went Missing For Hours On A Cruise, Then A Total Miracle Happened…

A story of survival, hope and miracle of one Carnival Cruise passenger…find out more below.

It was supposed to be a relaxing Thanksgiving cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, for James Michael Grimes, a construction worker from Valley, Ala. Instead, he fell overboard and spent hours in the Gulf of Mexico before being rescued.

In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” 28-year-old Grimes, claimed he dodged jellyfish, rip currents, and other hazards while struggling in shark-infested waters for about 20 hours after falling overboard on Thanksgiving Eve.

Grimes, who had only been on board for one day prior to the event, had been partying with his sister in a bar on board the ship after winning an air guitar competition when he excused himself to go the restroom and never came back.



Twelve hours later, his sister reported him missing. Despite drinking to celebrate winning a contest, he denies being drunk prior to the incident. Grimes said he trod water for nearly 20 hours before being airlifted by the US Coast Guard on November 24.

Grimes believes the fall overboard knocked him unconscious. “The next thing I know, I regained consciousness. I was in the water with no boat in sight,”he said.

Grimes made the decision right then that he would make it out of the sea while he was all alone in the darkness and the light from the stars and moon.

“I felt like I was given a chance right then… you’re alive for a reason… that [fall] could’ve killed me, but I felt like from that moment on, I was trying to stay positive. And, you know when you’re here, you’re still alive for a reason. So, all you got to do now is swim and survive. I was hoping… they will start looking for me… they will find me eventually,” Grimes said.

Thankfully, the Coast Guard arrived just in time. They estimated that the overboard traveler only had about a minute left before he was going to succumb to the elements in the Gulf of Mexico.

“My best guess is that he had between a minute and 30 seconds left before we lost him completely,” Hoefle said.

The Coast Guard eventually found Grimes twenty miles off the coast of Louisiana’s Southwest Pass. He was spotted by a passing crew member of a cargo ship who called in the missing man’s location to the Coast Guard. When the Guardsman finally caught up with Grimes, who was treading water, they threw him a rescue sling, and the man was barely able to hold onto it and get dragged to safety.

“Once I handed that to him, he just collapsed into it. He didn’t have … he couldn’t talk to me. I was able to get his name and the cruise ship he had fallen off of,” Hoefle said.

Grimes was not only struggling to remain awake after treading water for fifteen hours, but he was also suffering from hypothermia and was on the brink of death.

“It’s hard to keep your mind in the right place, and then to throw that Hail Mary last couple of minutes of waving, swinging a sock around, anything to make himself more visible to us, that’s survival,” Hoefle said.

Carnival Valor had said in a statement to ABC News that it conducted a search-and-rescue operation after Grimes went missing.

“Carnival Valor retraced its route to support the search and rescue, but the ship has now been released by the U.S. Coast Guard, and will continue on its way to Cozumel. Carnival’s Care Team is providing support to the family members of the missing guest who were sailing with him and remain on board,” the statement at the time said.

Against all odds, Grimes said he kept a positive attitude and “just kept swimming.”

In addition to his attitude, he said it was his will to see his family again that kept him afloat.

“I wanted to see my family and I was dead set on making it out of there. I was never accepting that this is it, this is going to be the end of my life. I’m 28 years old. I’m too young. This is not going to be it,” Grimes said.

“I always thought there’s a greater purpose for my life. Now, I know for sure I’m meant to do something on this Earth. And, you know, I don’t know. It was just the Lord was out there helping me, giving me strength and helping me stay afloat,” he added.

Watch the video below for more details:

Sources: AWM, DailyMail, GMA/Youtube



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