Mar 29, 2019
Recently 30-year-old Arne Murke and his brother were sailing a 40-foot yacht from Aukland, New Zealand to Brazil when they experienced a motor failure and lost all power. Suddenly the boat turned to cause the boom to swing around knocking Arne overboard into the ocean. His brother tried to throw him a line and a life jacket, but the swell had put too much distance Arne and the boat.
Without a motor or life vest in the rough seas, a rescue was looking impossible. But Arne remembered a survival tactic he had seen the Navy Seals employ. He took off his jeans and tied knots in the ends of the legs and then inflated the jeans by opening the waist and pulling the legs under water. Talk about a thaumaturgist, or miracle worker. Luckily, the brothers were rescued after being adrift for over three hours. What’s a word for the fear of becoming physically exhausted? Kopophobia!