Ivan Drago, a tourist from Macedonia, was relaxing on the beach in July on the Greek island of Cassandra.
He was left stranded in the open water, though, after being carried into the sea by a powerful wave.
Ivan tried to resist the tide, but he was unable to get back to shore.
His situation was reported by bystanders to rescuers, and a search was started.
An odd thing drifted by as Ivan strained to maintain his balance.
It was a huge inflatable ball that had deflated to half its original size but could still float.
Ivan was able to survive in the open water for 18 hours by clinging to the ball.
Eventually, the coast guard located him and saved him.
One mother in particular was interested in the news coverage of Ivan’s remarkable rescue that appeared in the local media.
She recognized the inflatable ball as the one that her kids, Tryphon, age 11, and Thanos, age 6, had dropped on a beach on the island of Lemnos, which was 80 kilometers from where Ivan had been discovered.
