Poland thanks Saudis for kite-surfer rescue

Lisewski: photo - screen shot youtube

On Sunday evening, Minister Sikorski spoke to His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al Faisal, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia.

“Minister Sikorski thanked the Saudi authorities and expressed special gratitude to the marine seach and rescue services for saving the life of Jan Lisewski, the Polish kite-surfer who became stranded on the Red Sea on March 2,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Bosacki says in a statement.

“The Minister underscored that the final success of the mission - conducted in demanding circumstances - came down to the fact that the Saudi side dispatched an unprecedented number of personnel and equipment towards the search and rescue efforts,” the statement continues.

The 42 year-old John Lisewski had planned to kite-surf from Egypt to Saudi Arabia and set off on his journey on Friday.

But after the wind speed suddenly dropped the kite fell into the Red Sea. After the wind failed to return to strength, Lisewski SOS-ed for help.

Shark attack

Lisewski told the PAP news agency that if his brother had not suggested he take a knife with him on the trip he would probably have been eaten alive by sharks.

“I was pushed by the wind to the worst place, on the reef, where sharks were feeding. They tried to attack me through the kite, which probably had colours that attracted them. I stabbed at them with the knife in their eyes, nose, gills. The fight, which miraculously I came out victorious from, took all night. In the morning they were gone,” Lisewski says, estimating he was attacked 11 times as he floated helplessly in the sea, waiting to be rescued.

After 40 hours in the sea, the kite-surfer from Gdansk was picked up by a Saudi boat and taken to a hospital in Duba on the Saudi Arabian coast. (pg)