Man Falls Off Cruise Ship, Treads Water For 20 Hours In Fight For His Life

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Falling off of a cruise ship and fighting to stay above water for 20 hours isn’t how James Michael Grimes expected his Thanksgiving to start.

Grimes and his family embarked on the Carnival Valor the night before Thanksgiving on November 23 to celebrate the holiday. Although the night started off well, things quickly took a turnoff Grimes when he came to in the middle of the ocean with no boat in sight.

He says he had a few drinks throughout the day but wasn’t drunk when he went overboard.

His sister says that Grimes left to go to the bathroom around 11 p.m. Grimes doesn’t remember this or what lead to him waking up off the ship.

After realizing he was no longer on the boat, Grimes would spend the next 20 hours fighting for his survival in shark invested waters with 3-5 foot seas.

“It came up on me really quick and I went under and I could see it. It wasn’t a shark, I don’t believe,” he said. “But it had more like a flat mouth, and it came up and bumped one of my legs, and I kicked it with the other leg. It scared me not knowing what it was. All I could see was a fin.”

The Coast Guard eventually found Grimes and rescued him early on Thanksgiving day.

Carnival is thankful everything resolved safely, but assure their safety protocols meet Coast Guard standards.

“We greatly appreciate the efforts of all, most especially the US Coast Guard and the mariner who spotted Mr. Grimes in the water,” Matt Lupoli, a spokesperson for the company said. “Cruise ships have safety barriers in all public areas that are regulated by US Coast Guard standards that prevent a guest from falling off. No one should ever climb up on the rails. The only way to go overboard is to purposefully climb up and over the safety barriers.”

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