This is the incredible story of how a tourist survived being swept out to sea thanks to a small inflatable ball. The holidaymaker known only as Ivan, 30, found himself in dire straits on Saturday when he fell into strong currents off Mytis Beach in Kassandra, Greece. Friends worried about his disappearance alerted the coastguard – but Ivan, from North Macedonia, was declared lost at sea. But miraculously his life was saved when a child’s ball floated towards him in the ocean in a tale reminiscent of the movie Cast Away, starring Tom Hanks. He clung to the ball to help him float – until rescuers found him around 18 hours later. Ivan was pulled from the water on Sunday and has since recovered from his ordeal. But unfortunately his friend Martin Jovanovski, who was also swept overboard at the same time, remains missing as of yesterday. Ivan clung to the ball to help him float until rescuers found him around 18 hours later (Image: Newsflash) Ivan, from North Macedonia, poses with the ball, his dad and Kassandra mayor Anastasia Chalkia ( Image: Newsflash) Map shows Ivan’s incredible journey to survival (Image: Metro.co.uk) Ivan and his friend Martin Jovanovski were swept out to sea off Myti Beach in Kassandra, Greece (Image: Newsflash) Ivan’s amazing story has been extensively covered by the Greek media. A photo of him posing with the ball, his dad and the mayor of Kassandra, Anastasia Chalkia, has been widely circulated. And coincidentally, a mom who saw his story came to fill in the blanks about how Ivan survived. She recognized the ball when she saw it on TV as the toy her sons had lost 10 days before the tourist was rescued.
More: Greece
Siblings Tryfonas, 11, and Thanos, 6, were playing with their favorite ball on Egatis beach on the Greek island of Limnos on June 30 when the sea swept it away. But somehow the ocean currents pulled it 80 miles off the island and into Ivan’s path. Ivan told local media after the rescue that the ball was the reason for his survival – even though it was half-inflated. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
