Chinese Man Survives Seven Days Adrift at Sea on Raw Crabs and Urine

A 40-year-old Chinese man has survived an ordeal of seven days adrift at sea, sustaining himself on raw crabs and his own urine. Qin Jianping was found unconscious and naked by fishermen about 10 kilometers off the coast of Hainan province in early June.

Qin was walking on a beach in Haikou on May 27 when large waves swept him away. He had been on vacation in Hainan and slipped on discarded fruit peel near a coastal embankment. Without his phone, he could not call for help. He removed his pants, shoes, watch, and ring to avoid being pulled down, but found himself unable to reach the bottom in the open sea.

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Urine is a stream of warm heat. I curled into a ball and did my best to preserve that tiny bit of warmth to keep myself warm.

"The sea is nothing like a swimming pool," Qin told Xinhua. "I couldn't touch the bottom, and the huge waves kept pushing me further away. Every time I tried to move a meter toward the shore, the waves would pull me three or four meters back. There was no way I could swim back."

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The sea is nothing like a swimming pool. I couldn't touch the bottom, and the huge waves kept pushing me further away. Every time I tried to move a meter toward the shore, the waves would pull me three or four meters back. There was no way I could swim back.

He found a buoy and clung to it for days. Suffering from lack of sleep and food, he began to hallucinate. The sun beat down during the day, while the cold water leached body heat at night. "Urine is a stream of warm heat," he recounted. "I curled into a ball and did my best to preserve that tiny bit of warmth to keep myself warm."

On the fifth day, he discovered a navigation buoy covered in fingernail-sized crabs. He ate about 80 raw crabs, which became his sole sustenance. He also attempted to drink seawater and his own urine to combat thirst.

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Now that you are with us, be sure you will not die.

His rescue came on June 2, seven days after he was swept away. The fishermen who found him initially thought he was hallucinating when he spoke to them. They pulled him aboard, provided him with water and dry clothes, and brought him to shore. His wife, who had traveled to Hainan to search for him, was reunited with him.

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I thought I was dying.