When he was ultimately saved, Mr. Francois left his old boat behind.
A man who spent 24 days lost at sea and survived by eating ketchup has been found after Heinz launched a social media campaign to track him down. The ketchup manufacturer is now planning to gift him a new boat, said a report by the Guardian.
As per the report, the Pittsburgh-based Heinz food company has made contact with the saved sailor, Elvis Francois, about buying him a new sailing vessel. When he was ultimately saved, Mr. Francois left his old boat behind.
Heinz issued a separate statement to the Guardian on Tuesday that said the company and Mr Francois ”are working out the logistical details of [getting] him his new boat”. No other details have been provided.
”We received thousands of likes, shares, and messages of kindness in our search to find Elvis Francois. It was an incredible group effort across six continents that led to the hundreds of articles and leads and our eventual contact with Elvis,” a statement on Heinz’s Instagram page said on Monday.
See the post here:
Notably, Heinz launched a campaign named #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy last month which went viral.
”You may remember Elvis Francois as the brave sailor who survived on nothing but ketchup and spices while adrift at sea for 24 days. Well, Heinz wants to celebrate his safe return home and help him buy a new boat… but we can’t seem to find him,” the ketchup manufacturer said in an Instagram post, requesting the public’s help in tracking down the brave sailor.
A media outlet in Dominica called Emo News tracked him down on the Caribbean island after it saw Heinz’s appeal to find him.
The 47-year-old man was swept out to sea by powerful currents in December while making repairs to his boat. He lived off a bottle of Heinz ketchup, garlic salt, Maggi soup cubes, and rainwater that he gathered with a cloth.
“I had no food. There was only a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and (bouillon cubes) Maggi. So I mixed it up with some water for me to survive 24 days in the sea,” Mr Francois, said in English in a video released by the Colombian Navy.
Mr Francois added: “24 days, no land. Nobody to talk to. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know where you are. It was rough. A certain time I lose hope. I think about my family.”
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