THIS is the moment a jet-ski rider was rescued after spending three days adrift at sea following a night out gone wrong.
Layonel Ramirez Collado had been on an evening boat trip in the Canary Islands but was separated from his friends as he attempted to retrieve a jet-ski which came loose from the vessel.
@salvamentogob / XThe 23-year-old had been on a night time boat trip with friends.[/caption]
SolarpixA rescue mission began after Collado failed to make it back to the mainland.[/caption]
After grabbing the watercraft, the 23-year-old ended up stranded as the jet ski broke down.
The high winds and strong currents then dragged him out into the Atlantic, leaving him cast away.
However, aerial footage captured the moment Collado was spotted off the coast of the Spanish islands – almost 48 hours later.
Collado’s friends had alerted the authorities at approximately 11pm on the night he went missing, as he never made it to their agreed meeting point.
A frantic search followed, with the young man miraculously being found on Wednesday afternoon, approximately 16 miles out to sea.
Despite the joyous reunion, his family had slammed rescuers for not continuing the hunt for Alex at night.
They were also critical of the authorities’ methods, saying they were conducting their search too close the coast.
They were ultimately proved right as Collado was found so far out to sea.
The young man’s plight comes two months after a diver drifted nearly 100 miles from Morocco to Spain.
The 23-year-old had been diving with friends off Fnideq, on the north coast, when he suddenly disappeared beneath the waves.
Crew members aboard a merchant ship bound for Portugal then spotted the young man around 24 nautical miles off Caleta de Vélez on Spain’s Costa del Sol – almost two days later.
They immediately alerted authorities, and a helicopter raced to the scene to carry out a dramatic rescue.
Footage from the helicopter showed the tense moments before he was evacuated from the merchant ship.
He was rushed to Motril on Spain’s Costa Tropical, which has an emergency helipad, allowing him to be taken straight to hospital.
The diver later told police he had been swept out to sea since Wednesday afternoon, was wearing a wetsuit.
Although he showed signs of hypothermia, he was miraculously stable.
He explained that he had been diving off the coast of Fnideq when powerful currents swept him away.
Losing sight of his group, the tide carried him into open water.
By the time rescuers found him, he had drifted an astonishing 96 miles across the sea.
@salvamentogob / XCollado drifted approximately 16 miles out into the Atlantic.[/caption]
SolarpixThe young man’s family were critical of the authorities’ methods throughout the search.[/caption]
SolarpixHe was transported back to shore on Wednesday afternoon.[/caption]