Friday 10 June 2022 04:55 PM Australian sailor John Deer swims 17km after falling off his boat near Panama trends now
An Australian sailor has survived a 17km swim for his life through shark-infested waters after falling out of his boat while fishing.
John Deer was stranded alone with no life-jacket off the coast of Panama in an area known to locals as 'shark point' on Wednesday night.
Mr Deer, from Victoria, sold everything he owned in 2019 to sail around the world on the adventure of a lifetime.
Towards the end of what was a 30 hour trip from Columbia to Panama, he fell off the back of his boat while it was on autopilot with both sails up and the motor running.
Mr Deer had just caught a small tuna and as he took it off the line and redeployed the lure he lost balance and slipped off the back of the boat.
John Deer (pictured) set off in 2019 to sail around the world and now finds himself without a boat and just the clothes on his back but with an incredible story to tell
'I just remember hitting the water and as I saw my boat sail off I just thought, this is it, I'm done, I'm going to die,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'It happened so quick. I put my foot in the wrong place and suddenly I am in the water watching my boat sail away and completely helpless.
'I don't know if it was panic as much as denial in the beginning. I just started screaming "no, no no!".'
After realising he had no other option but to swim for his life, Mr Deer started towards land with only about an hour of sunlight left.
He said his survival instincts kicked in and he remembered a trick to figure out which piece of land was the closest.
'You can tell which part of the land is closest by what appears darkest,' he said.
'So while I could see my boat going in one direction I knew that the land to my side was closer.
'I knew I went overboard at about 5pm so daylight was limited. I memorised the shape of the mountains and then after the sun went down I just followed the darkest part.'
The remains of Mr Deer's boat after it was recovered some distance from where he fell off it near Panama
Mr Deer started alternating breaststroke and survival stroke as he headed towards land.
Because he was moving so slowly he started to wonder if he was making any progress.
'I didn't know if or how I would get there and I was trying not to be put off the task at hand and just kept reminding myself I could do it,' he said.
'I kept telling myself out loud, I'm getting closer, I've got this, I can do this. I was just being positive to keep my mind strong.'
However, as night fell Mr Deer felt something bite his foot, setting him off into a wild panic.
'Fearing it was a shark I went into a frenzy. I started screaming, kicking and punching in every direction to scare it off,' he said.
'I just knew I had limited energy, I was getting so tired so I
