That SINKING feeling

These people were lucky to survive a disaster at sea

- SAMANTHA IRELAND

THREE DAYS TRAPPED UNDERWATER

On May 26, 2013, a tugboat called Jascon-4 was hit by a freak wave 30 kilometres off the coast of Nigeria. The boat capsized and sank 30 metres, to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

All 12 crew were presumed dead so when divers went to retrieve the bodies almost three days later, they were shocked when a hand reached out from the inky depths.

The tugboat's cook, Harrison Okene, then 29, was in the bathroom when the wave hit and water flooded in. He found himself trapped in an air pocket, as the rest of the crew were swept away.

'Under water it was so, so, so cold. I was struggling to stay alive,' Harrison told 9News.

He had resigned himself to his fate when he saw light from a diver's torch.

Harrison went into the water and tapped the diver, who was surprised to find a survivor.

On the surface, life support technician Alex Gibbs knew getting Harrison to safety wasn't going to be easy.

He risked decompression sickness if brought up too quickly. He was also running low on oxygen and had been breathing his own carbon dioxide.

'He was close to dying,' Alex said.

Amazingly, Harrison was brought up safely and, under Alex's care, spent three days in a decompression chamber before recovering fully.

He even turned his experience into a new career, becoming a commercial air diver.

Coincidentally, nine years after the ordeal, he found himself working alongside Alex.