The photo shows Poon Lim, a man who cheated death and the ocean itself. In 1942, his ship was sunk by a German submarine. All he had left was a flimsy raft, a few cans of biscuits, some water, and a first aid kit. No one believed he would last more than a week. But he survived. For 133 days — almost half a year! — he drifted alone in the middle of the Atlantic. He made hooks out of nails, caught fish, drank rainwater, and when hunger drove him mad, he sucked the blood of a shark that he managed to kill with his bare hands. He hunted birds, threw himself into storms, and turned despair into fuel for life. Poon Lim proved that even when the ocean, hunger, and death are against you, it is possible to win. He was found by a random fishing boat off the coast of Brazil. The fishermen could not believe their eyes: before them stood a man who had overcome the impossible for 133 days in a row.
The Man Who Killed a Shark with Bare Hands
In 1942, during the height of World War II, Chinese merchant seaman Poon Lim was aboard a British ship crossing the Atlantic when a German U-boat torpedoed it. The vessel sank rapidly, and Poon found himself alone on a flimsy 8-foot wooden raft—with only a few cans of biscuits, a jug of water, a flashlight, and a basic first aid kit.
No one expected him to survive more than a few days, let alone a week.
But Poon Lim endured for an astonishing 133 days—nearly four and a half months—drifting in the vast, merciless Atlantic.
He fashioned hooks from nails in the raft to catch fish, collected rainwater in a canvas sheet to drink, and even killed seabirds for food. When a shark circled threateningly, driven by maddening hunger, he pulled it aboard and drank its blood for sustenance, killing it with his bare hands.
He battled relentless sun, brutal storms, and waves of despair, deliberately throwing himself into tempests to cool his burning skin and renew his will. Every day was a war against the elements, isolation, and the edge of madness—but he turned raw despair into unbreakable fuel for life.
On April 5, 1943, a Brazilian fishing boat spotted him off the coast near Salvador. The fishermen couldn’t believe their eyes: emaciated but alive stood a man who had defied the impossible.
Poon Lim’s survival remains the longest recorded on a raft at sea. He proved that even when ocean, starvation, sharks, and death itself conspire against you, the human spirit—fueled by ingenuity and sheer refusal to surrender—can win.
His story isn’t just one of endurance; it’s a testament that hope, when fiercely guarded, can outlast the greatest odds.
