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Missing Tourist Reveals How He Survived a Week at Sea

A missing tourist from China survived for more than a week after getting swept into the sea. 39-year-old Qin Jianping revealed he managed to survive by eating raw crabs.

According to China Daily, the tourist fell into the water near a cliff in Hainan Province. Somehow, he didn't drown despite not having a life jacket. Apparently, after a day of treading water, he was able to climb onto a floating maritime buoy. That ultimately helped to save his life.

But he was unable to swim to shore.

"The sea is nothing like a swimming pool," he added to China Daily. "I couldn't touch the bottom, and huge waves kept pushing me farther out. There was no way I could return."

For a week, the tourist survived by eating small crabs that he was able to catch with his hands.

"I didn't start eating crabs until the fifth day," he told China Xinhua News. "The crabs were only about the size of a little finger. I'd grab two or three at a time, rinse them in the sea water and toss them straight into my mouth."

Tourist Survived a Week at Sea

Over several days, he ate "60, 70, maybe even 80 crabs." As for liquid, he drank small amounts of seawater, eventually turning to drinking his own urine.

"For every meter I swam toward the land, the waves pushed me three or four meters back," he told state media outlet China Xinhua News. "Urine is a stream of warm heat. I curled into a ball and tried to preserve every bit of warmth."

By the time fishermen rescued him, he was severely hallucinating and out of it.

"When we found him, he told us, 'I think I'm dying,' " fisherman Fu Tingsan told the Global Times. "I told him, 'You're not going to die. You've run into fishermen. We'll get you home.' "

Despite losing 22 pounds, the man will make a recovery.

"I had already accepted that my husband was gone," Jianping's wife told China Daily. "I filled three bottles with seawater to take home as a memento."

As for his survival, he says he never gave up hope.

"No matter how dangerous or hopeless things get, if you keep a steady mind, you can get through it," he told the outlet.