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July 17, 2023 | 9:21 a.m
An Australian has been rescued in the Pacific after surviving for two months on rainwater and raw fish in what has been compared to the film ‘Cast Away’ – but his companion was a dog, not a hand-printed volleyball.
Sydney resident Tim Shaddock, a 51-year-old cancer survivor, and his pooch Bella set out from La Paz, Mexico, on a catamaran trip to French Polynesia in April, but their ship was wrecked in a storm a few weeks later damaged, the Australian newspaper 9News reported.
The couple survived by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish while awaiting a miracle in the Pacific.
On Wednesday, a helicopter monitoring a tuna trawler spotted the tiny catamaran bobbing in the middle of the vast ocean.
Australian sailor Tim Shaddock and his dog Bella have been rescued after surviving two months in the Pacific Ocean by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish – in what’s being dubbed a real-life version of “Cast Away,” 9News
In photos taken after his rescue, the bearded Shaddock looks emaciated and decrepit – much like Tom Hanks’ character Chuck Noland in the 2000 survival film Cast Away.
Tim Shaddock, 51, from Sydney, Australia, and his dog Bella were rescued after surviving two months in the Pacific Ocean by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish. Shaddock and his dog were en route to French Polynesia from Mexico when their catamaran was damaged in a storm.9news Shaddock’s catamaran was spotted by a helicopter and rescued after two months on the water.9news
In the film, the FedEx employee who survived a plane crash is rescued from a ship on a makeshift raft after finally fleeing an uninhabited Pacific island where he spent four years.
Noland’s only company was “Wilson,” a volleyball he found in a box and named it after the maker.
There was a bloodstained handprint on the ball, which he made to look like a face.
But Shaddock, a retired IT worker, was better off during his ordeal if he had a live companion, Bella.
The man’s drama has been compared to Tom Hanks’ 2000 film Cast Away. 20th Century Fox/Dreamworks/Kobal/Shutterstock
“May I have your name, please?” A rescuer asks him in video of the rescue, the Telegraph reported.
“I’m Tim Shaddock, I’m from Australia,” he replies.
Shaddock and Bella, who were brought aboard the trawler, appeared to be in remarkably good shape given what they had been through.
“I went through a very severe ordeal at sea,” he told 9News. “I just need rest and good food because I’ve been at sea alone for a long time. Otherwise, my health is very good.”
Shaddock can be seen during his dramatic rescue from the wrecked catamaran.
Mike Tipton, an expert on sea survival, attributed Shaddock’s endurance to a “combination of luck and skill.”
“And like Tim, for example, also knowing that you need to protect yourself during the heat of the day because the last thing you want when you’re at risk of dehydration is to sweat,” he told the outlet.
Tipton said Shaddock was able to secure a fresh water supply thanks to the climate and location.
“These longer-distance voyages typically take place in the Pacific,” he said. “If you go back in history, they’re more likely to occur in warm environments, because if it was a cold environment, you wouldn’t survive long enough.”
Shaddock is said to have been in good condition after the ordeal.
The expert described Shaddock’s rescue as a “needle in a haystack” scenario.
“People need to realize how small the boat is and how vast the Pacific is. “The chances of anyone being found are pretty slim,” he said.
Tipton added that Bella — as opposed to an inanimate object — “could have made all the difference.”
“You live a lot from day to day and you have to have a very positive mental attitude to get through that kind of ordeal and not give up,” he told 9News.
“Imagine how dark and lonely it would feel out there at night,” Tipton said.
“But also having a plan and rationing yourself on water and food is really the secret of long survival voyages,” he added.
The sailor also survived cancer about 20 years ago.
Shaddock worked in IT before retiring and was looking for a new challenge, friends told the Telegraph.
“He’s got some money, he gets bored and he’s doing new things,” said a pal.
About 20 years ago, Shaddock survived colon cancer after following fasting and raw food diets, the outlet said.
“When my health was in a critical state, I had to do a lot of fasting, juicing, and drinking smoothies,” Shaddock told The Raw Food Kitchen website. “I remember once living off green vegetable juice exclusively for more than three months.”
Shaddock must now slowly return to a normal diet after his meager offerings at sea.
“It has to be a slow return to normal and he’ll probably have to keep an eye on it for several months,” Tipton said.
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