When he was finally rescued, Mr. Francois left his old boat behind.
A man who was lost at sea for 24 days and survived by eating ketchup has been found after Heinz launched a social media campaign to find him. The ketchup maker is now planning to gift him a new boat Guardian.
According to the report, the Pittsburgh-based Heinz Food Company has approached the rescued sailor, Elvis Francois, to buy him a new sailing vessel. When he was finally rescued, Mr. Francois left his old boat behind.
Heinz issued a separate statement to the Guardian on Tuesday saying the company and Mr Francois were “working on a logistical detail”. [getting] him his new boat”. No other details have been provided.
“In our quest to find Elvis Francois we received thousands of likes, shares and messages of kindness. It was an incredible group effort across six continents that led to hundreds of articles and leads and our last contact with Elvis, said a statement on Heinz’s Instagram page on Monday.
View the post here:
Notably, Heinz started a campaign called #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy last month that went viral.
You may remember Elvis Francois as the brave sailor who lived on nothing but ketchup and condiments while he was at sea for 24 days. The ketchup maker is asking for the public’s help in tracking down the brave sailor in an Instagram post. requesting, “Well, Heinz wants to celebrate his safe return home and help him buy a new boat… but we can’t find him.”
A media outlet in Dominica called Emo News located him on the Caribbean island after seeing Heinz’s appeal to find him.
The 47-year-old man was swept away by powerful currents while repairing his boat in December. He lived on Heinz ketchup, garlic salt, Maggi soup cubes, and a bottle of rainwater that he collected with a cloth.
“I didn’t have food. There was only a bottle of ketchup, garlic powder and Maggi on the boat,” he said in English in a video released by the Colombian Navy.
Mr Francois said: “24 days, no land. No one to talk to. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know where you are. It was hard. At a certain point I lose hope. I go to my family think about.”
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