THIS is the moment a whale-watcher was rescued after being stranded at sea for more than two months with the bodies of his family.
Mikhail Pichugin, 45, set off from Okha on Russia‘s largest island Sakhalin, to the remote Shantar Islands in Russia with his older brother and nephew on August 9.
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The trio braved the stormy sea of Okhotsk in a 15ft inflatable vessel with warm clothes, life jackets, flares, some food and 20 litres of drinking water.
However, during the journey that should have taken several days, the Honda engine on the Baykat 470 M catamaran-type inflatable cut out, causing the vessel to drift at least 625 miles.
Pichugin was located 67 days later in his vessel 14 miles off the village of Ust-Khairyuzovo, on the Kamchatka peninsula.
During the perilous two-month ordeal, his brother Sergey Pichugin, 49, and his son Ilya, 15 died.
The teenager’s birthday was on August 27 and it is not known if he lived to see his 16th year.
Pichugin was surrounded by their corpses when he was found by the crew of a fishing trawler clinging to a lifebuoy inside the vessel.
A member of the crew filmed the rescue mission with footage showing Pichugin in a lifejacket desperately flagging down the fishing vessel in the dark as large waves crashed into the side of his boat.
“Strength is low,” the 45-year-old shouted to his rescuers.
“Got it. We’ll try now. All right, hold on,” they replied.
“Just sit tight for now.”
“At least they’re wearing those life jackets, it’s okay,” one of the rescuers was recorded saying to a fellow crewmember.
Eventually, Pichugin was thrown a line by his rescuers to pull his boat up alongside the trawler.
As he got next to the ship and prepared to be hauled up, the bodies of the nephew and brother could be seen as the man weakly manoeuvred his way around the vessel to get closer to the trawler.
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Too weak to climb on board the Angel, Pichugin was winched up and reportedly “took a warm shower and fell asleep.”
It was found that despite losing 50kg in weight, Pichugin’s condition was “satisfactory” and the Angel trawler transported him to Magadan.
“When they said Misha [Mikhail] was alive, I thought we were waiting for a miracle, and it happened,” his 38-year-old ex-wife Ekaterina Pichugina told KP-Irkutsk.
“After 4 am the captain of the ship on which Misha was being taken to Magadan called me….
“The captain says that Misha received medical assistance. His condition is satisfactory. However….he lost 50kg, half his weight.”
While Russian authorities launched a search and rescue for the three whale watchers, these attempts were called off after a month of no results.
‘TRUE MIRACLE’
Shocked experts have called Pichugin’s survival a “miracle.”
“There are two real miracles here,” said Dmitry Lisitsyn, the head of Sakhalin Environment Watch who has travelled the Sea of Okhotsk for two decades.
“The first is that such a small, uncontrolled boat was not capsized in the stormy autumn Sea of Okhotsk after more than two months of drifting.
“The second is that someone on this boat survived.”
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“I can’t wrap my head around how this is possible. The boat certainly went through several strong storms and remained afloat – this is something incredible,” he continued.
“But how [he] could survive in the icy, stormy sea for more than two months is simply beyond comprehension. It truly is a miracle.”
Since returning to Magaden, Pichugin has revealed that he survived by collecting rainwater and eating soaked dried peas and freeze-fried noodles.
He also wrapped up the bodies of his brother and nephew and tied them to the vessel to prevent them from going overboard.
It is reported that his nephew died about three weeks ago quickly followed by his brother, Ilya’s father, after suffering from severe hypothermia and dehydration.
Footage captured the moment the trawler came to shore in Magadan as they carried a conscious Pichugin off in a folding stretcher and into an awaiting ambulance
In another clip, the distraught man covered his face with his hood as he was being wheeled on a gurney into the hospital.
“The patient is more or less stable, and we are examining him now,” a doctor told reporters.
“We will place him in the intensive care unit and do further examinations.”
Key concerns about Pichugin’s health concern dehydration and the long-term effects of hypothermia.
He has been described as “severely dehydrated and exhausted.”
When he was found, the 45-year-old was “very weak and [he] could barely speak,” reports have said.
However, despite the miraculous survival and rescue, Pichugin may find himself facing legal trouble as his vessel was unsuitable for the type of expedition he planned.
Under Russian law, the inflatable motorboat could only legally venture two nautical miles away from the shore.
A criminal case has been opened into a potential violation of maritime safety laws, according to TASS.
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