Survival of the fattest

[samhexum]

A Russian man may have survived for two months drifting in an inflatable boat in the Pacific Ocean because he was so fat, his ex-wife has said.

Mikhail Pichugin was rescued by fishermen on a trawler called “Angel” on Monday evening after a 66-day ordeal that killed his brother and his nephew.

A video of his rescue off Russia’s far east coast showed the 46-year-old looking disoriented and weak.

“I don’t have much strength,” he said as he bobbed up and down in his grey inflatable boat on the Sea of Okhotsk. A red makeshift flag fluttered behind him.

In the video, the fishermen throw Mr Pichugin a rope and haul him to safety. The bodies of his brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya, 15, were still on the boat.

Yekaterina Aksenova, Mr Pichugin’s ex-wife, told Russian media that he had been a portly 100kg (220 pounds) when he set off on his fishing trip but by the time he was rescued, he had lost half his body weight. She said that Mr Pichugin’s belly may have saved him.

“It’s a kind of miracle,” she said because the men had only taken enough food and water to last two weeks. “The boat was reliable. He bought it specifically to go to Sakhalin to fish and for travelling.”

Ms Aksenova said that contact with the fishing party was lost shortly after they set off from one of the Shantar Islands off mainland Russia to return to the large island of Sakhalin, roughly 200 miles away, where Mr Pichugin was working as a driver.

After his rescue, Mr Pichugin was taken to the city of Magadan. Videos showed him being stretchered into a hospital and later sitting wrapped in blankets looking gaunt and sunburnt in a chair.

Yury Lednev, the chief doctor of the regional hospital, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti, that his condition was “more or less stable” but he was likely to have suffered from hypothermia.

The rescuers also brought back the bodies and the inflatable boat, which was being examined by investigators. Mr Pichugin had tied the bodies of his nephew and brother onto the side of the boat so that they wouldn’t be washed away and used their life jackets to signal for rescue.

A screengrab from a video showing Mr Pichugin moments before he is rescued

Investigators later told Russian news agencies that Mr Pichugin could be charged with negligence and face up to seven years in prison if they decide that the hunting party set off for their expedition with inadequate kits.

Mr Pichugin and his nephew and brother had planned the trip for a year but their engine cut out as they set off on their return journey.

They tried to row to shore but were overwhelmed by the waves and dragged out to sea.

Baza, a Telegram channel considered close to Russia’s security forces, said that the party only had 20 litres of drinking water and a store of instant noodles and peas to live off.

“Ilya Pichugin died in early September, a few days after his 16th birthday. By that time, the travellers had been eating dry noodles, cereals and peas for a month, and the boy could no longer eat the same thing,” it claimed.

“His body did not accept this food. As a result, he died of hunger and exhaustion.”

Mr Pichugin reportedly told investigators that his brother died three weeks later after he fell overboard into the icy sea as he tried to wash himself.

Edited October 15, 2024 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[Luv2play]

This account doesn’t state how tall the survivor was but his weight of 100 kg or 220 pounds doesn’t sound excessive by American standards. And the picture at the bottom of the article is of someone over 500 pounds at least or more.

[MikeBiDude]

9 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

This account doesn’t state how tall the survivor was but his weight of 100 kg or 220 pounds doesn’t sound excessive by American standards. And the picture at the bottom of the article is of someone over 500 pounds at least or more.

I’m assuming the pictures in the post have nothing to do with the story and are troll bait.

[Luv2play]

On reflection the whole story is a bit implausible and based on the ex-wife’s opinion. The young nephew stopped eating because his stomach rebelled at the diet and the older brother fell overboard in the icy water and although pulled into the raft probably died of hypothermia.

The one who survived had belly fat apparently but wasn’t obese it appears unless he was under 5’ 6”. Maybe having some extra weight helped but the others might have survived as well in other circumstances.