Gulf Coast Man Survives 19 Hours In Gulf

Mississippi Gulfport Long Beach Mississippi man fights off strong currents and sharks.

by Steve Alexander

Published: Thu, July 24, 2008 - 8:50 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, August 11, 2008 - 3:40 pm CST

A Long Beach, Mississippi man fell off his boat near Ship Island Monday evening and spent 19 hours trying to swim and float back to shore.
29 year old Colin Rayner said he fought off strong currents, sharks and hallucinations.
It all started as a fishing trip about 6:00 Monday evening.
Rayner said he and a female friend were on his boat about six miles off the coast of Gulfport.
He said he went to go to the bathroom off the back of the boat without his life jacket, and his friend playfully pushed him.
Rayner said, "Before I knew it, she gave me a good shove on my back and I went in the water and the boat just started going."
Soon, the boat disappeared.
Rayner said it wasn't long before he saw rescue ships and a helicopter, but they didn't see him.
He said, "(The helicopter pilot) did some passes over me and around me and was close enough to where I saw the whites of his eyes. Finally, I saw that helicopter leave and I knew I was in some trouble."
As day turned into night, Rayner faced strong currents and other dangers.
He said, "Two sharks about fifteen minutes apart came and bumped my thigh and put their nose on it. The whole time I'm getting stung by jellyfish about every ten minutes everywhere."
Rayner said he even had hallucinations.
He said, "I was seeing beagles under the water. These beagles were just running around and playing and messing around with the sharks. I knew the beagles weren't real but I didn't know if the sharks (were)."
Finally, high tide eased the rip current and Rayner said he was able to swim to shore on Tuesday afternoon, 19 hours later.
He didn't give up, but he said he almost gave up twice.
Rayner said, "It was just peaceful, peaceful, and it was like something slapped me in the face and said, 'You idiot, you know, go now,' so I swam back up, and I thought about it. My sister is getting married tomorrow, and my dad is having his 80th birthday next week and I said, not this week, you can't die, you won't die and that's when I said I will not die."
Rayner was dehydrated, but not seriously hurt.

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Tide Fan Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:35 pm

LOL….Yea, I couldnt handle part three.

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm

Careful Tide: a frequent poster on this site believes you and I are the same person .. doo dee doooo deee dooo dee doooo deee..

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:18 pm

Just goes to show you, don’t comment too soon. That was over 20 minutes of him talking and talking and talking. And I think I only watched PART DEU

Tide Fan Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:11 pm

Dang…After watching that…Im convinced this guys credibility is non-existant. Fins, shoes, and people ignoring him…..I think there could be some underlying mental issues with this guy…I think he believes what he is saying…and he really thinks it happened just as he says. Schizophrenia could be a possibility. That still doesnt answer the question about the girl…she sure is keeping a low profile. Weird stuff.

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Here we go, analyze away. http://www.wlox.com/default.asp
He spends 20 minutes talking about shoes and fins and how people ignored him in the water.

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:58 am

Maybe he had some meat tenderizer in his pockets? LAUGHS.

Tide Fan Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 11:21 am

I dont know if I would say “conspiracy theory” and include the Coast Guard. Alot here just doesnt add up…He swims for 19 hours, atleast six miles, and conveniently ends up on shore in Gulfport….If I could swim that well, you can bet your last dollar that I would not have seperated from the boat…He can swim for 19 hours and for miles..but cant stay with the boat…And for a helicopter to be as close as he said and for them not to see him…He said he saw “the whites of their eyes” leads me to believe it was daytime hours…Those Coasties are top-notch professionals with state of the art equipment…not that they are above mistakes..but it just doesnt add up. Did he go to a hospital?? Getting stung by jelly fish every 10 minutes for 19 hours is SEVERE to say the least and would require some attention I would think. I could be wrong…but it just seems far-fetched..almost staged.

Jamie Burch Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 10:35 am

News 5 has confirmed the U.S. Coast Guard is still investigating claims that a Mississippi man fought off sharks and swam 19 miles to shore after being pushed from a boat in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://www.wkrg.com/local/article/unanswered_questions/16306/

southfan1981 Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 10:06 am

And they’re off AGAIN!

This was pretty easy to find. So it’s a conspiracy theory involving the non-boating lady, Mr. Rayner, Dr. Rayner, the coast guard and the pesky tide? Good luck with all that.

http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/698748.html

northcountygirl Says:

Fri, Jul 25, 2008 at 9:57 am

Maybe he was hallucinating the whole thing, not just the dogs. If this really did happen, they were both really drunk or on some kind of drugs.

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