HELICOPTER CRASH SURVIVOR SWIMS 12 HOURS TO LAND

Here’s a nice Christmas miracle story: A Madagascan government official swam for 12 hours toward land after the helicopter he was in crashed into the Indian Ocean. Serge Gelle, who is Madagascar’s police minister, was one of four people on board the helicopter when it crashed Monday as they responded to the scene of a sinking cargo ship. Gelle said he used the helicopter pilot’s seat to stay afloat in the water. He said he stayed calm and took off anything heavy, like his boots and belt. He got within 500 meters of the shore, but the waves kept sending him back out to sea. Gelle was discovered by a fisherman in a canoe. But the fisherman’s canoe was too small. So he had to go back for a bigger canoe. So Gelle stayed two more hours in the sea. Gellé said in a video posted to Twitter soon after he was found, “My turn to die has not yet come, thank God. I’m well. I’m just cold.”
* Nothing about the other three people, so I guess – don’t ask.
* I supposed just having Mr. Gelle hang onto the side of the canoe while the fisherman paddled to shore wasn’t dramatic enough?
* You’re bobbing in the Indian Ocean for 12 hours. A guy in a boat says, “Stay right here – I’ll be back in two hours.” Genius.
* So, no tip for the fisherman?
* Then, just for good measure, he rode a bike 112 miles and then ran 26 miles back to the office, and won the Madagascar Iron Man competition.