A teenager on the Algarve coast has suffered an incredible ordeal: the 17-year-old girl was blown into the sea by a strong wind on her stand-up paddleboard. Erica remained there for 20 hours before being rescued by a freighter. “This girl is a heroine,” said a spokesman for the University Hospital in Faro, where the young woman was treated.
Newspapers in Portugal spoke of a miracle after the rescue of the 17-year-old. Erica was washed up about 28 miles offshore before being fished out of the sea after a night in swimwear. The teenager was exhausted and severely hypothermic when she saw and boarded the crew of a Dutch freighter.
“She was only wearing a bikini and had to stay on the board all night,” said Afonso Martins, the port captain of Vila Real de Santo António.
Vader jumped into the water to save Erica – but didn’t stand a chance
Erica disappeared on Saturday when, according to, among other things, the municipality was paddling on the beach on the border with Spain, she was blown away by the strong wind. Her father jumped into the water to help her, but had no chance, partly because of the strong wind. The young woman stood on her board in the sea in strong waves.
Hospital staff ‘surprised’ at rescue
“Miracle in the Algarve” was not only the headline in the newspaper “Jornal de Noticias” on Monday. A spokesman for the University Hospital in Faro, where the young woman was being treated, said that “everyone was surprised” at the hospital as well. “It takes a great survival instinct, a self-control, not to panic. This girl is a heroine,” said Horácio Guerreiro.
Source: Krone
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