“It’s a little miracle”: a Frenchman miraculously survived after spending 16 hours clinging to his windsurfing board in the English Channel

A true miracle. Vianney Destombes spent nearly 16 hours in the waters of the English Channel on the night of Sunday December 22 to Monday December 23, only clinging to his windsurfing board while the water temperature did not exceed 12°C. However, the 27-year-old managed to survive. Having gone windsurfing the day before, when the conditions were not ideal – storm Enol was hitting the Manche department – ​​Vianney was found by a French navy helicopter, 16 hours after having drifted.

During this time, the survivor remained clinging to his board, fighting against the elements, as he told France 2. “There were a lot of winds, a lot of big waves. There are places where It was rolling so I was carried away by the closing wave. To avoid getting into the wind, there were times when I dove into the water while having my hands on the board.” The young man also said he no longer remembered his entire night and had a memory lapse of around seven hours.

A Christmas miracle

While initial search operations were launched with rescue boats at sea, they had to stop around 11 p.m. on Sunday evening due to weather conditions, leaving the windsurfer alone in the Channel for the entire night. And despite this, Vianney managed to survive since he was airlifted by the national navy the next day, 25 kilometers from his starting point located at Pointe de Saire, near Cherbourg.

Ordeal over and rescue successful, as Christophe, pilot of the rescue helicopter, tells France 2. “It's really a small miracle because to find people alive like we had today (Monday December 23, Editor's note), it happens in 1 to 2% of cases and it's something extraordinary.” Three days later, the 27-year-old went to meet those who saved him for quite an emotional moment. “It’s great to be able to meet them, I didn’t imagine that there were so many resources deployed,” he told our colleagues.