Australian sailor rescued from sea after two months is a cancer survivor

An Australian man who survived two months stranded at sea is "stable and very well", his doctor has told 9News.

Tim Shaddock’s mother said he sent a voice message after his miraculous rescue by a fishing trawler. “He was elated, he was safe. I have been to church to give thanks,” she said, according to The Sun.

She added that she “can’t wait” to see him but that she will not stop her son — a 51-year-old cancer survivor —from going on voyages in the future.

Shaddock and and his dog Bella were sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia when rough seas damaged their boat and its electronics system, leaving them cut off from the world, according to CBS News.

They had been adrift in the Pacific Ocean for two months — and, finally, saved by a tuna trawler. They were spotted off the coast of Mexico on July 12 by a helicopter.

The Sydney sailor, who survived by eating raw fish and drinking rainwater, told 9News that he had been "through a very difficult ordeal at sea" and needed "rest and good food". His dog, Bella, was also looking safe and well, 9News added.

Ocean survival expert professor Mike Tipton told 9News that “having a plan, rationing yourself in terms of water and food, is really the secret to long survival voyages”.

The expert added that Shaddock will now have to slowly get back to his normal diet and monitor his health for several months.

The Sun report cited above added that Shaddock, who worked in the Information Technology (IT) sector, was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in early 2000.

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