'Strange bond': Two men's near-identical ordeals surviving alone in the ocean

Author: Melissa Nightingale,
Publish Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2024, 9:01AM

Hallucinations, sunburn, visits from sharks and the sheer power of will connect Rob Hewitt and Will Fransen.

While the two Kiwis have never met, they share an experience most people will never come close to - survival against all odds, alone in the endless ocean.

Fransen, 61, made headlines yesterday after spending nearly 24 hours drifting in the water off the coast of Whangamatā after falling off his boat during a solo fishing trip. He was later rescued off Mayor Island by a group of friends out game fishing.

He told the Herald he hallucinated many times, was investigated by a shark, and despite his “pessimistic” outlook, found the strength to go on. “I just kept staying alive.”

Cambridge man Will Fransen, 61, survived 24 hours in the ocean after falling overboard off the coast of Whangamatā on Tuesday.

The Cambridge man’s extraordinary tale of resilience and ingenuity - reflecting sunlight off the face of his watch to signal for help - bears a striking resemblance to Hewitt’s.

The brother of former All Black Norm Hewitt was diving with mates off the Kāpiti Coast when he got caught in a rip in February 2006.

He surfaced 600m behind their boat and was quickly pushed further away by the tide.

Hewitt then spent 75 hours floating in the water, something he said gives him a “strange bond” with Fransen.

One of Hewitt’s fears during his ordeal was of the “unknown”. Not just of “what it’s like to die”, but also “the unknown of who’s going to walk my kids down the aisle ... What do my family look like without me? This is why I have to survive”.

As the sun set on his first day in the water, Hewitt began to panic.

“Then I’m thinking, ‘As soon as the sun’s gone down, there will be no rescue attempt. Everyone will be home putting a plan together for tomorrow. What do I need to do to survive during the nighttime?’

“‘I’m probably going to die out here tonight, so I need to make sure that I can connect to God or something spiritual.’”

Rob Hewitt, pictured in 2019 talking about his own diving ordeal in 2006.

Life in the water became a series of challenges: it’s 2am now, survive until first light, and so on.

“[I was] putting little goals in front of me.” He expected it was much the same for Fransen.

Like Fransen, Hewitt had many hallucinations, including imagining he was safe at home with his family, only to come back to reality as a wave splashed over his face. He would also hallucinate being rescued, but not being given any water.

He said Fransen’s mental fortitude must have been good for him to still be alert enough to use his watch to signal for help.

“He must have gone through that same sort of journey that I went through, both spiritually, mentally and physically.”

Hewitt was wearing his wetsuit and diving gear, which provided some warmth and protection from the salt in the water.

His time in the Navy recovering bodies from the ocean had taught him what salt could do to people’s bodies as they floated in the sea.

“It’s the sea lice that will get into soft tissue and start eating away after about 12 hours, 20 hours – depends what sort of clothing it’s got to push through.”

Former Navy diver Rob Hewitt was diving with mates off the Kāpiti Coast in 2006 when he got caught in a rip.

Hewitt tried to sleep during the night, but found the waves hitting his face often woke him. During the day, he wanted to stay alert for signs of rescuers.

He also saw a shark, and thought about how if it attacked him, he would try to kill it with the small knife he was carrying and eat it. But if he thought he was going to lose the fight with the shark, he had already decided he would put his head inside its mouth for a quick death.

The shark left, but only physically.

“Once the shark’s gone, the shark’s still there in your mind. It was in my mind for four hours.”

Eventually, Hewitt put mind over matter and stopped thinking about the shark. “I needed that energy to survive.”

“That may have been [Fransen’s] mentality. I have no doubt that shark would have played through his mind.”

Hewitt gave up more than once and tried to let himself die.

“The first time ... I just tried to hold my breath under the water until and then just sink. I blacked out and rolled back over and then I breathed. The first thing I thought was, ‘How could I do this?’ Not only to myself, but to my family.”

The final time he tried to die was less than an hour before he was rescued.

Hewitt got rid of all his gear and took off all of his clothes except for his pants, hoping that feeling the cold water on his skin would “extinguish” his desire to keep living.

The action may have led to his survival.

“That’s when my dive buddies found my dive hood.”

Max White (left), James McDonnell and Tyler Taffs were fishing near Mayor Island when they noticed a glimmer from Will Fransen's watch and came to his rescue.

Hewitt’s hood had floated away to where rescuers – including old friends from the Navy – were still searching for him. They soon realised it was his and intensified their search efforts in the area, finding him 30-45 minutes after he took off his clothes.

Hewitt described it as a “Hansel and Gretel” situation, with his dive gear acting like breadcrumbs.

When the group picked him up, he believed he was hallucinating again. It was only when they stripped the rest of his clothes off and began hosing him down with fresh water that he started to come back to reality.

Hewitt said Fransen would likely have been feeling “a lot of emotion” when his rescuers arrived. “He will still be figuring that out over the next two to three weeks.”

He said he would be keen to reach out to Fransen and talk to him as someone who could understand what he’d been through.

“I would be able to listen because I know that story myself.”

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.