Poon Lim was a Chinese sailor.


 In 1942, during World War II, he worked as a second steward on the British ship SS Benlomond, which was sailing from Cape Town to Paramaribo and then to New York.


On November 23, the ship was attacked by a German submarine, U-172, which hit it with a torpedo and sank it.


The Benlomond went down in just two minutes. Only six people, including Poon Lim, managed to escape the sinking ship.


After floating in the ocean for about two hours, Lim found a wooden life raft. On the raft were some supplies: boxes of biscuits, a 40-gallon jug of water, chocolate, a bag of sugar cubes, some flares, two funnels, and a flashlight. In the end, Lim was the only one of the 54 crew members who survived.


He stayed alive for 133 days alone at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. He caught fish, drank bird blood, and even killed a shark with a water jug after pulling it onto the raft with a handmade fishing line. He drank the shark’s blood and ate its meat.


Poon finally reached the coast of Brazil and was rescued by local fishermen. He had lost more than 9 kg (about 20 pounds) but was strong enough to walk on his own after being saved.

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