When we posted about a man who had been rescued in the Gulf of Mexico by the US Coast Guard after apparently falling off the cruise ship Carnival Valor, we were convinced that there was more to the story. It didn’t seem likely that anyone could have survived the fall from the ship and then treaded water for around 20 hours in 65- to 70-degree water, withstanding rain, 20-knot winds, and three- to five-foot waves.

There had to be more to the story. It now looks like we were wrong. James Michael Grimes, 28, the man rescued was interviewed by ABC News and confirmed the account that he and his sister were drinking at a shipboard bar. At around 11 PM he left to find a restroom and did not return. 

Grimes says that all he remembers is waking up in the water, with no memory of how he got there. Grimes said he believes the fall overboard knocked him unconscious. “The next thing I know… I regained consciousness. I was in the water with no boat in sight,” he said.

“I felt like I was given a chance right then… you’re alive for a reason… that [fall] could’ve killed me, but I felt like from that moment on, I was trying to stay positive. And, you know when you’re here, you’re still alive for a reason. So, all you got to do now is swim and survive. I was hoping… they will start looking for me… they will find me eventually,” Grimes said.

“I wanted to see my family and I was dead set on making it out of there. I was never accepting that this is it, this is going to be the end of my life. I’m 28 years old. I’m too young. This is not going to be it,” Grimes said.

Grimes was aboard the five-day cruise with 18 of his family members for Thanksgiving. When he didn’t return to his cabin, his sister reported him missing the next day. 

He was spotted in the water by the crew on the bulk carrier Crinis and directed the Coast Guard to his position. Grimes was rescued from the water by a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter. 

“We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome,” said Lt. Seth Gross, a Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator. “It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchstanders, response crews, and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and get him to safety. If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending.”

The New York Times notes that falling from a ship into a vast sea may be a cruise passenger’s worst nightmare. While the chances of going overboard are exceedingly remote, according to statistics from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the outcome is usually tragic.

In 2019, 25 people fell overboard, and only nine of them were rescued, according to CLIA.

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