Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

[LadyFish]

PALACIOS, Texas (AP) - Cold, frightened and desperate after 13 hours in the choppy Gulf of Mexico, Melinda Lopez refused to give up.<br /><br />After falling overboard Tuesday from the shrimp boat where she worked, Lopez swam and floated until she reached safety at an oil platform, spray-painted a distress signal and managed to activate an alarm system to summon help.<br /><br />I just had to stay strong. I didn't want to go like that,'' the 32-year-old Lopez said in a story in Friday editions of The Victoria Advocate. I didn't want to be eaten by fishes. I was really scared.''<br /><br />Lopez's ordeal began 70 miles off Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico, where Lopez was climbing around the 76-foot shrimper Ike and Zack to find a spot to read. She slipped and fell in the water without a life jacket.<br /><br />Neither the boat's three-man crew nor those of other boats that floated past heard her cries.<br /><br />The water was rough,'' she said in the online edition of the Houston Chronicle, adding that she was bumped by large fish. The waves were coming over my head.''<br /><br />Lopez said she swam all night, following a distant sound and finally reaching a foghorn on the offshore rig about daybreak Wednesday. There, she found a moldy loaf of bread, other food and water - and some black and white paint.<br /><br />She painted an SOS on the platform, made a balloon out of a black trash bag and spray painted it with another plea for help. She was also able to trigger an alarm system on the platform, which activated sirens and lights.<br /><br />Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Adam Wine said a jet pilot spotted the SOS on the oil platform Wednesday evening.<br /><br />Rescued by a helicopter crew, she was cold, shaking, dehydrated and in a slight state of shock, but stable'' when she was transferred to Galveston's University of Texas Medical Branch, Wine said.<br /><br />Lopez' mother cried and prayed as rescuers searched for her daughter.<br /><br />As long as she's my daughter, she'll never go to sea again,'' vowed Janie Lopez, of Palacios.<br /><br />I don't want to even get in the water,'' her daughter said.<br /><br />These Texas gals are tough.<br /><br />

 

[Homerr]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Hmmmm....<br /><br />Is this for real?<br /><br />You'd think she would freeze for being in the water that long.<br /><br />WOW... Tough lady. I wouldn't want to *iss her off!<br /><br />H.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

I'd think the gulf of mexico would be warm water<br />the north pacific and north atlantic are cold!<br />A happy ending story..great!

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Water temp here is between 74 and 78 on the coast, probably closer to 80 where she went in. But still, lots of sharks.

 

[ob]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

That's an amazing story of survival.She is one tenacious and very lucky woman.I suspect most trained Coast Guard rescuers could not have tread rough Gulf water for that long ,let alone follow a rig whistle and swim to it in the dark.A Navy Seal would be impressed.I'm in awe.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

And ta think I have compained about some of the days I have had at work

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

If it was me, I would have gone bonkers after listening to the rig whistle for 13 hours. They drive me nuts when we tie up to fish. LOL

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Hats off to her! That's one strong lady.<br /><br />I hate to inject a negative, but didn't at some point the darn crew notice her misssing????

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Ralph, they probably pushed her off. LOL, just kidding. <br /><br />But your right, where were all the guys when this happened.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

puzzled... no one missed her all that time?<br />went to read a book in choppy seas and fell<br />overboard?<br />smells funny 2 me.<br />truth is somewhere in the middle IMHO.<br />movie of the week syndrome? <br />M.Y.

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

well what a story sure am glad she made it.<br />I for one would have been scared to death

 

[11 footer]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Wow

 

[scamper]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

LadyFish, don’t know if you remember but 8 to 10 years ago they caught a 12’ shark off Galveston with the skeletal remains of half a man inside(maybe a woman). The coast guard compiled a list of missing people that had fallen from shrimp boats, work boats, and drilling platforms over the years to see if they could match anything. There were over 40 people on that list.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Hello<br /> wow. see what happens when you dont know your supposed to drown. glad she made it. everything from jellyfish to sharks out there. haveing been on shrimp boats and navy destroryers it is very easy to fall off and not be noticed as missing for a long time.that is why the navy holds a muster everyday if someone does not show up at least they know they were onboard in the past 24 hours. was a sailor fell off in the arabian gulf and the next morning they found he was missing. that afternoon a tomcat pilot spotted him by back tracking the carriers position from the past 24 hours. the guy made it .some are not so lucky. that is why we do so many stupid man overboiard drills and post so many watches just goes to show that you must always be ready to work for your survival.

 

[gonfishn]

Re: Woman Falls Overboard, Swims to Oil Rig

Ladyfish I just saw it on the news...She is a lucky women to be a alive...She did say that she was done with the boats and that her grandmother was watching over her during her ordeal.