Survivor tells harrowing tale of staying awake two days in Atlantic Ocean

May 05, 2018 News

Lovell when rescued.

-took chance, jumped overboard after seeing crewmember beaten

By Staff Writer

“I had to swim for two days to reach land and I almost gave up hope. I really do not know where the other men are.”
Words from Sherwyn Lovell, one of the 16 fishermen who had been missing since Friday, after pirate attacks on four fishing boats.
The 42-year-old Guyanese man who became emotional from

Survivor: Sherwyn Lovell

time to time while being interviewed by Surinamese media personnel has the scars to show from the harrowing experience.
Lovell suffered injuries to both arms and his left leg. He also had burns to his back, that he said, was a result of having hot oil thrown on him. When asked what plans he had, for work in the future, he said, “Fishing work? Me ain’t doing back fishing work.”
Such was the impact of the experience he had, which has him fearing for his life.
Lovell explained what transpired after the pirates boarded their vessel. The pirates had them unloading the catch onto the pirates’ boat.
Even though the turbulence of the high seas created difficulties in the transfer, the pirates warned them against having fish dropping into the sea.
“Don’t mek no fish go overboard, cause them snapper is gold. We gon chop out (you) neck”. Lovell claims his crewmember and friend, Ralph ‘Burnham’ Couchman, made a mistake and dropped a fish overboard.
He was severely beaten by the pirates with a cutlass. Lovell was overwhelmed with emotions while telling the story of what happened to Burnham.
He claimed that, at one time when he made an attempt to emerge from the ice box to see what led to the cries of his crewmembers, he was broadsided to his forehead. He had a scar to prove his story.
Lovell didn’t want to die there, so he made a decision to jump overboard.
“I say to meself well me ain’t deading hay. If y’all fuh kill me, y’all could kill me overboard.”

Ralph ‘Burnham’ Couchman

Lovell kept himself afloat and depended on the tide to carry him ashore. It was two days before he had his first glimpse of hope.
The horrors didn’t end there, Lovell told of how he took almost a day on the seashore to recover, since the area where he landed, was a bushy area, and no immediate help was in sight.
Sometime later, a boat passed and he beckoned for help. He asked for a call, but the phone credit ran out.
He then walked along the shores for a few more miles, while being eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes. His only relief came from dipping into the sea from time to time.
He got a second phone call through another passerby. He called the police and told them to send a chopper.
He waited for quite some time before two boats came. The chopper passed a few times overhead.

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