on 05-02-2014 05:01 PM
A castaway who says he spent 13 months lost in the Pacific told reporters he thought about killing himself twice, despairing from "hunger and thirst".
In an interview to CNN Mexico, Jose Salvador Alvarenga said fear was what stopped him from suicide.
The man, who was found in the Marshall Islands, also said he kept his faith that he would get out of the situation.
Mr Alvarenga says he left Mexico with a friend for a trip in a fibre-glass boat in December 2012.
He says a fisherman colleague who was also in the 7m (24ft)-long boat died at sea.
In a statement, the authorities of El Salvador said they were working with their counterparts in the Marshall Islands to repatriate the Salvadoran national.
"I thought I didn't want to starve or die of thirst. It was very tough," he told CNN.
Mr Alvarenga also suggested he went adrift as his boat's engine stalled, amid strong northerly winds and a strong swell.
He said he could not get a radio signal to alert others of his situation.
Despite despairing at times, he told CNN he never believed he was going to die.
"I didn't think I was going to die. I thought: 'I will get out. I will get out.'"
Wearing only ragged underpants, Mr Alvarenga washed ashore when his boat supposedly floated onto a reef at the small, isolated island.
He claims to have survived the 8,000 km (5,000-mile) ordeal by catching fish, birds and turtles with his bare hands.
Three Mexican fishermen were rescued off the Marshall Islands in August 2006 after what they said was about nine months drifting across the Pacific Ocean.
They survived on rain water, seabirds and fish.
Castaways from Kiribati, to the south, frequently find land in the Marshall islands after ordeals of weeks or months at sea in small boats.
on 05-02-2014 05:09 PM
I don't believe him..........I bet many don't.........
on 05-02-2014 05:52 PM
@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:I don't believe him..........I bet many don't.........
but makes for a good story, I think he might have seen "castaway" and decided to try it for real. He did say he caught fish including sharks. A boat was reported missing on November 20th 2012 with 2 people on board. Very healthy looking but who's to say it is not possible, miracles do happen
on 05-02-2014 08:46 PM
lol the news report is full of "he claims" and "he says"
on 05-02-2014 09:02 PM
on 06-02-2014 12:46 AM
well if that's really the before photo. He went from looking like in is 20s to 50s however he might look younger without a beard.
on 06-02-2014 12:47 AM
Is it me or does it look like he put on weight?
on 06-02-2014 01:06 AM
could be fluid retention, condition called edema
on 06-02-2014 07:49 AM
Jet black hair to a red head.....weight gain.......no apparent skin damage...........awesome.......
on 06-02-2014 08:32 AM
Look how pale and un-tanned his hand is. He must have spent a long time with them in the water for them to stay that white.