- A woman who had been missing for two years was found floating in the ocean.
- Her alleged story of how she came to be drifting in the sea is horrific, and her own daughter disputes the claims.
- Other than being in shock when she arrived at the hospital, the woman is reportedly in good health.
If a person is rescued at sea, it’s often because of some seriously unfortunate circumstances that played out over the course of hours or perhaps days. A boat capsizing and leaving its passengers to fend for themselves on the waves isn’t super common, but it does happen from time to time. So, when fishermen came across a woman floating in the ocean of the coast of Colombia and brought her aboard their vessel, they assumed something similar had happened. According to the woman, that’s definitely not the case.
The distressed woman, Angelica Gaitan, has been missing for two years, according to reports. That’s a heck of a long time to be lost at sea, but based on her own claims of what happened, the saga of how she came to be rescued is a complicated and tragic one.
As Mirror reports, Gaitan was non-verbal when rescued and she was suffering greatly. The fisherman who found her initially thought she was a log floating listlessly in the sea until she began waving for help. They tossed her a life ring and eventually were able to drag her onto their ship.
Once she was brought back to shore and given medical attention, she told a seriously heartbreaking story. According to reports, Gaitan said she was in an abusive relationship with her partner for two decades. She was physically abused during pregnancy and even after reporting her partner to the police, he would return the next day and the abuse would continue.
In September of 2018, she says she was beaten to the point that she thought she might die, and it was at that point that she decided to leave, living on the streets for the following six months. She eventually took residence in a homeless shelter but severe depression took hold and she decided she no longer wanted to live. Eight hours before she was rescued, she took a trip to the shore and decided to let the sea take her. She waded in and drifted off, hoping that it would be the end.
After floating farther and farther from shore for hours, she was still very much alive. The hospital staff said she was in a state of shock when she arrived but was able to pull through and tell her story.
However, this bizarre saga gets even more bizarre, as the woman’s daughter was apparently tracked down by a local news agency and her version of events varies greatly from that of her mother. The daughter claims that stories about abuse and suicidal behavior are false, though she didn’t offer any theories on how her mother came to be floating in the ocean.
It’s a sad story no matter what way you look at it, but it’s incredibly fortunate that Gaitan was found alive after her long trip out to sea. Hopefully, she can get whatever help she needs and local law enforcement can determine if the claimed allegations of abuse are legitimate, and if so, the party responsible is brought to justice.
