They may not have painted a football and called it Wilson, but three men who were recently stranded on the uninhabited island of Fanadik in Micronesia proved that the movie Cast Away definitely had a few gems of wisdom in there. This trio of friends set out to sea from Pulap, but their 19-foot skiff boat capsized, and they were trapped on the island for three days.
The three used palm tree branches to write ‘HELP’ in the sand, and were thus spotted and rescued by US Navy and Coast Guard officials.
After their boat was hit by a massive wave and got swamped, the men had to swim for nearly 2 miles in the dark. Their families had also reported them missing, which led to a 17-hour search by a combination of organisations. “Fortunately for them, they were all wearing life jackets and were able to swim to the deserted island,” U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Melissa McKenzie said.
“Our combined efforts coupled with the willingness of many different resources to come together and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in a very remote part of the Pacific,” said Lt. William White, a Sector Guam public affairs officer.
According to the Washington Post, they were finally picked up by a local boat. Their condition is not known, but they are thought to be uninjured. This is why you should tell you kids to watch movies!