Moment man was found after being trapped under water in a capsized boat for three days

This is the moment a man was rescued after spending almost three days at the bottom of the ocean when the boat he was on capsized.

Harrison Okene managed to survive as he was caught in a small air pocket on the overturned tugboat that lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. You can see the moment he was rescued here:

Okene, who was the boat’s cook, was one of 12-crew members aboard the Jascon 4 vessel on May 26 2013 when it sank 100ft to the seabed. The boat would remain there for 60 hours.

Okene, who was 29 at the time, had just a single bottle of Coke for sustenance and was left in the pitch black after the two flashlights he had with his gave out after less than one day.

He was the only survivor of the 12-person crew and was close to death when rescuers from Dutch company DCN Diving found him.

Speaking a month after the rescue, Okene said he had been praying to God for a miracle but had almost given up hope until he heard the sound of a boat followed by hammering on the side of the vessel.

DCN Diving

The water began to bubble up around him and he saw lights but they disappeared again, forcing Okene to swim through the dark water to try and find the would-be rescuer, but he wasn’t able to find him.

When the diver returned and saw Okene, he initially mistook him for a dead body - however, when he brought his arm near to Okene he grabbed it, prompting the diver to shout out: “He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s alive!”

Alex Gibbs, a life support technician on duty on the surface, told 9News that Okene was very close to death at the time of his rescue.

DCN Diving

He explained: “Contrary to popular belief, when people are trapped in confined spaces it is not the oxygen running out that will kill you, it is your own exhaled breath causing a build-up of CO2.

"By the time he had been found, this was at a clearly high level.

"You can see him panting in the video and his slightly glazed eyes caused by this."

Almost ten-years later, and somewhat miraculously, Okene’s brush with death hasn’t put him off diving and is now a IMCA Class Two Commercial Air Diver.

Speaking to 9News earlier this year, he said: "I'm enjoying diving, it's life for me, it's fun.

"I believe the ocean is my world. I feel more comfortable, relaxed there.

"I like being in the environment."

Topics: World News

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at UNILAD who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats.