<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Three fishermen off the coast of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/brazil" rel="" target="" title="Brazil"><span>Brazil</span></a><span> made a life-changing discovery that made one man, who had been lost at sea for 133 days, an instant celebrity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-5-what-happened-on-this-day/de8c9261-f5a1-43d2-9720-a194539ac7dc" rel="" target="" title="Poon Lim"><span>Poon Lim</span></a><span>, born in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/china" rel="" target="" title="China"><span>China</span></a><span>, was a crew member aboard the SS Benlomond, a British Merchant Navy ship which </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world-war-ii" rel="" target="" title="had been torpedoed"><span>had been torpedoed</span></a><span> in November 1942.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Miraculously, Lim found a wooden raft and clambered aboard.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-2-what-happened-on-this-day-sverdlovsk-anthrax-leak/47d399e7-53b8-45c4-b940-f804cb70f76c"><strong><span>A few milligrams from lab leak killed dozens of people</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He spent 133 days - over four months - drifting through the ocean until eventually, he was rescued by fisherman on a family boat on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="April 5, 1943"><span>April 5, 1943</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The only person to live through the sinking, Lim's ordeal represents one of the most remarkable stories of survival known to man.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After spending more than two hours in the ocean after the boat sank, clinging to anything that floated by, Lim came across a raft a crew member had deployed but failed to embark.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-5-what-happened-on-this-day-poon-lim/0fd62d7e-75ac-4ebb-aecb-3ecfb1c84cd7" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Onboard the raft were supplies such as biscuits, water and milk.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But it was Lim's ability to catch fish, birds and even a shark that kept him alive.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-april-1-what-happened-on-this-day-ronald-wayne-apple/0630abf2-5deb-43ca-ac0a-9cd5665c3748"><strong><span>Ron made the worst deal in business history for $800</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The fish he ate raw, while Lim claimed he dried pieces of the poultry and shark and ate them like jerky. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lim claimed that other sailors, ships and even planes spotted him during the months he spent at sea, but fearing he was an enemy luring them into a trap, let him float by.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said other racist factors may have played a part. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Once his discovery was made public, he became an overnight celebrity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lim died in 1991. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-29-what-happened-on-this-day-hyphen-war/9d24576f-6be0-428d-b797-8d362e6a782e"><strong><span>Country splits in two after failing to resolve punctuation dispute</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-21-what-happened-on-this-day-collyer-brothers/d420209f-80bc-49c4-8745-b09ffc292bb8" target="" title="Brother starves to death after hoarder killed by own booby trap"><strong><span></span></strong></a><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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