Swimmer Rescued 37 Hours After Getting Swept Out To Sea

A Chinese woman in her 20s was rescued after spending 37 hours stranded in the middle of the ocean . She was swimming at Shirahama Ohama beach in Shimoda, Japan, on Monday (July 8) when she was swept out to sea. The woman was in a rubber swimming ring and could not swim back to shore.

Her friend reported her missing, and a large search and rescue operation was launched to try to locate her. On Wednesday morning, a tanker spotted the woman floating off the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula peninsula, about 50 miles from the shore. The tanker radioed a smaller vessel in the area, and two crew members jumped into the water to pull her out. The Japanese Coast Guard then airlifted her to the hospital.

The woman was suffering from dehydration but was otherwise in good health.

The Coast Guard noted that she was lucky to have survived the dangers of being stranded out in the open water, which include hypothermia, heat stroke, or getting struck by a ship in the dark.