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Unbelieva-BALL! Holidaymaker survives 18 hours adrift in sea off Greece by clinging on to a ball that two young boys had lost while playing on beach 80 miles away ten days earlier
- Man, named only as Ivan, was swept out to sea from Greek island of Kassandra Ten days earlier two boys lost a ball while playing on a beach in Lemnos island
- The ball travelled 80 miles from the island towards mainland Greece
- Miraculously, Ivan found the ball as he was swept out to sea and used it to float
- He managed to stay afloat for 18 hours and was eventually rescued from the sea
PUBLISHED: 15:21 EDT, 13 July 2022 | UPDATED: 15:23 EDT, 13 July 2022
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A holidaymaker miraculously survived 18 hours adrift at sea by clinging to a small ball lost by two boys on a beach 80 miles away, ten days earlier.
The astonishing drama began when a tourist named only as Ivan, 30, was one of three men to be swept out to sea by powerful currents off the coast of Kassandra in Greece.
As they disappeared out to sea, desperate friends raised the alarm with the Greek coastguard, but Ivan was declared lost at sea when they were unable to find him.
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But in a bizarre twist of fate, he was saved when a child's ball floated towards him as he feared he might never be rescued.
As he clung onto the ball, he found it helped him to float and the tourist from North Macedonia was able to cling on.
Amazingly the ball had been lost ten days earlier by brothers Tryphon, 11, and six-year-old Thanos.
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ShareThe pair had been playing with their favourite ball on Evgatis Beach on the Greek island of Lemnos on June 30 when it was swept away by tides.
By astonishing luck, sea currents brought the ball exactly into the path of Ivan 80 miles away, saving his life.
The ball managed to keep him afloat until he was finally spotted by rescuers.
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Ivan was spotted by a Greek Air Force helicopter and plucked from the water on July 10 after 18 hours adrift, still clutching onto the ball.
By coincidence, the ball owner's mother spotted her son's toy on Greek TV and came forward.
After the rescue, Ivan said the ball - despite only being half-inflated - helped him to stay alive by keeping him afloat.
In a photo widely circulated by Greek media, the mayor of Kassandra, Anastasia Chalkia, posed with the ball alongside Ivan’s father outside a medical centre.
The latest reports on July 13 stated that Ivan's friend Martin Jovanovski - who was also swept out to sea - remains missing.
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Holidaymaker survives 18 hours adrift in sea by clinging on to a ball
The astonishing drama began when a tourist named only as Ivan, 30, was swept out to sea by powerful currents off the coast of Kassandria in Greece.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Holidaymaker survives 18 hours adrift in sea by clinging on to a ball
The astonishing drama began when a tourist named only as Ivan, 30, was swept out to sea by powerful currents off the coast of Kassandria in Greece.
