Nearly 100 feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean, a diver moved through an overturned tugboat expecting to find only bodies. Then a hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed him—revealing that Harrison Okene had survived inside the wreck for nearly 60 hours.

The Jascon-4 Sank Before Dawn

At approximately 4:30 a.m. on May 26, 2013, Okene was using the bathroom aboard the Jascon-4 when the tugboat suddenly capsized off the coast of Nigeria. The vessel came to rest upside down on the seafloor at a depth of about 100 feet.

Okene, a 29-year-old cook, escaped from the bathroom and felt his way through the flooded, pitch-black interior. Of the 12 people aboard, he was the only survivor; the other 11 crew members died.

A Small Air Pocket Kept Him Alive

Okene eventually reached a compartment where air remained trapped above the rising water. He created a makeshift platform with mattresses and other materials, helping him keep much of his body out of the water as he waited in darkness.

He had no way to contact the surface and did not know whether rescuers would ever reach him. According to The Guardian’s Associated Press report, Okene prayed and recalled Bible passages his wife had sent him before the accident.

The Recovery Mission Took an Unexpected Turn

The divers who later entered the Jascon-4 were conducting a body-recovery operation, not searching for survivors. Several bodies had already been recovered, and the crew monitoring the dive initially believed the hand visible on the camera belonged to another victim.

When the diver reached for it, however, the hand grabbed him. The camera captured the shock of that moment as the team realized someone was still alive inside a vessel that had been submerged for more than two days.

Why 60 Hours Was Close to the Limit

The trapped air prevented Okene from drowning, but oxygen was not the only concern. Carbon dioxide from his breathing was accumulating inside the confined space and could eventually have caused confusion, unconsciousness and death.

A diving-medicine specialist consulted by National Geographic estimated that signs of carbon dioxide toxicity could have begun after roughly 56 hours. The publication reported that Okene was found after approximately 60 hours, although some contemporary headlines rounded the ordeal to three days.

He Could Not Be Taken Directly to the Surface

Because Okene had remained under intense pressure at a depth of about 100 feet, bringing him immediately to the surface could have caused potentially fatal decompression sickness. Divers warmed him, fitted him with breathing equipment and carefully guided him out of the wreck.

He was transferred to a diving bell and then placed inside a decompression chamber so his body could gradually return to normal atmospheric pressure. By the time he was rescued, members of his family had reportedly already been told that no one aboard the tugboat had survived.

The Rescue Video Captured a Real-Life Reversal

Footage of the rescue was released several months after the sinking and quickly spread through international news coverage and social media. Its most powerful moment required no reenactment: a diver searching for a body reached into the darkness and found a living man.

Okene’s survival remains one of the most remarkable documented shipwreck rescues, but it came amid a tragedy that claimed 11 other lives aboard the Jascon-4.