The man who was rescued from the Gulf of Mexico after falling off a cruise ship was moments away from death, according to one of his rescuers.
Richard Hoefle, a Coast Guard Aviation Survival Technician for the New Orleans division, told the outlets that he believes the victim “had about 30 seconds to a minute left” before he would have died.
“Mr. Grimes had nothing left,” Hoefle explained, per CBS News. “He had no energy. He had nothing left to give.”
Andy Newman/Carnival Cruise Lines via Getty.
Grimes was last seen at approximately 11 p.m. last Wednesday as the ship sailed in the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans toward Cozumel, Mexico, CNN previously reported.
The man’s sister reported him missing around noon on Thursday, and the Coast Guard was alerted to the potential of a person overboard at around 2:30 p.m.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Rescuers searched for Grimes in an areathe size of Rhode Island, according to CBS News and FOX affiliate WVUE-DT.
The Coast Guard found Grimes moments later, Hoefle said. The victim was “very confused” and “very disoriented” during the rescue, he added.
“We could see that he was in a distressed state,” Hoefle told WVUE-DT. “He didn’t have much time left.”
Grimes was airlifted to a hospital, where he is still recovering from hypothermia, according to CBS News.
Hoefle applauded Grimes' “incredible will to survive” in the choppy waters, telling CBS News, “He didn’t have flotation [devices], he didn’t have radio or flares. He just had to do anything that he could with what he had, which was nothing.”
Hoefle also lauded the Coast Guard’s efforts to locate the man before it was too late.
source: people.com
