Guðlaugur Friðþórsson

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Guðlaugur.
Aerial view of the Westman Isles (Vestmannaeyjar), looking north, with the Icelandic mainland in the background. Heimaey is the larger island in the centre.

Guðlaugur Friðþórsson (born 24 September 1961) is an Icelandic fisherman. He is notable for having survived six hours in 5 °C (41 °F) cold water after his fishing vessel had capsized.

Sequence of events

On 11 March 1984, Guðlaugur and four other fishermen were fishing near the Westman Islands when their boat, which was engaging in fishing and carrying trenchers to another village, capsized. It is suspected that the weight of the trenchers was miscalculated, causing the boat to be more susceptible to turbulent ocean conditions.[1][2]

He was the only survivor after swimming for six hours in 5 °C (41 °F) cold water to the island. Reaching the shore of Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar, he found himself at the most dangerous section of the island's coastline, due mainly to the waves hitting the coastal lava rock formations. When he finally got to land he had to walk across rough lava before he reached a town. When he arrived at the hospital, his body temperature was below 34 °C (93 °F) yet he showed only mild symptoms of hypothermia.[2][1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The True Viking Grit". The Viking Rune. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Why the fat Icelander survived his Arctic swim". New Scientist (1492): 6. 23 January 1985. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, December 03, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.