SYDNEY, April 19 (UPI) — The film crew behind Animal Planet’s “River Monsters” encountered a castaway while shooting in a remote area off the coast of Australia.
During a recent shoot for an episode titled “Death Down Under,” presenter Jeremy Wade and his crew picked up the marooned man after he caught their attention from a nearby uninhabited island.
“He had said his last prayer,” the episode’s director, Stephen Shearman, told Inside Edition about the man, named Tremine. “He was prepared to die and meet his maker.”
Severely dehydrated and scorched by Australia’s summer sun, Tremine was stranded on the island, located 60 miles from the nearest town, for an estimated 60 hours. The man was an experienced fisherman exploring a new area to collect oysters. After becoming separated from his boat, he reportedly suffered sunstroke and became increasingly disoriented.
“He then spent that first night on the beach, and the next morning he tried again, but the sun had gotten to be too much for him, and at this point, he is now trapped,” the director told the outlet.
During a short clip from the “Death Down Under” episode, host Wade said the crew first noticed Tremine’s cooler before catching sight of him, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
“He immediately came down to the water, and he’s yelling out ‘give me something to drink, give me something to drink,'” he said. “He was separated from his boat two days ago…With every hour that passed, his chance of survival diminished.”
The human body can only survive 72 hours without water.
The TV crew had not originally intended to fish the waters around the particular island on which Tremine was found, but choppy conditions prompted them to change plans.
