Fisherman Surrounded By Sharks Miraculously Survives 11 Days At Sea: 'I Was Born Again'

A fisherman from Brazil who got stranded in the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by sharks miraculously survived by staying afloat inside a freezer for 11 days.

Romualdo Macedo Rodrigues' boat sank off the coast of northern Brazil during a fishing trip early last month. When the water entered the vessel, Rodrigues jumped inside the floating freezer and managed to stay alive until he was rescued off the coast of Suriname, 280 miles away, by a group of fishermen 11 days later, CNN reported.

Rodriguez was initially detained in Suriname for not having any official documents but later returned to Brazil. "I was born again. I thought I wouldn't be telling this story, but I'm back here," Rodrigues told the outlet after returning to his homeland.

The 44-year-old man said sharks surrounded the freezer but never attacked him. He had to stay up without sleep and scoop out water with his hands whenever the water entered the freezer.

"I didn't sleep.I saw the dawn, the dusk, asking God to send someone to rescue me. I was thinking about my kids and my wife. Every day I was thinking about my mother, my father, all my family. It gave me hope," Rodrigues recollected, NY Post reported.

Rodriguez did not know how to swim and had no food or water. He was rescued just in time when his vision started to fade. When the fisherman arrived, Rodriguez realized from the sounds that there was help nearby and raised his hands to alert them.

"I heard a noise, and there was a boat on top of the freezer. Only they thought there was no one there. Then they slowly pulled over, my vision was already fading, then I said, 'My God, the boat.' I raised my arms and asked for help," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez still believes that his rescue was nothing short of a miracle. "That freezer was God in my life. The only thing I had was the freezer. It was a miracle," he added.