A Russian tourist who spent 21 hours on an air mattress in the open sea was rescued off the coast of Crete

11 kilometers off the coast of Crete, a sea patrol rescued a 55-year-old Russian tourist Olga Kuldo, who was carried away on an inflatable mattress by a strong current. The woman spent a total of 21 hours in the open sea under the scorching sun.

I noticed a Russian woman on a coastal patrol plane that was inspecting nearby waters in search of illegal immigrants. Olga Kuldo, an ultrasound diagnostics doctor originally from Zelenograd, came to rest in the Greek resort of Rethymno with her husband and daughter.

Source: Daily Mail

Representatives of Frontex (the EU Agency for External Border Security) said in a statement: "On the morning of June 28, a Slovak patrol plane participated in a search and rescue operation when the coast guard requested assistance in finding a missing person at sea off the coast of the Cretan resort of Rethymno."

"At 10:40 our plane located a person floating on a mattress. Then a Greek ship has already set off and rescued a 55-year-old woman who had been at sea for more than 20 hours."

Olga Kuldo was immediately sent to the hospital due to hypothermia, sunburn and resulting heart problems.

The husband and daughter of the tourist raised the alarm when Olga did not return to the hotel from the beach. It is unclear whether the woman fell asleep on an air mattress while sunbathing.

It is only known that she was carried away by a very strong current and it was difficult to notice her from the shore. Local services admit that Olga is incredibly lucky that she survived. "She is alive despite the low temperature at night, strong wind, short-term rains and even a small thunderstorm. When she was found, her body temperature was only 32 degrees."

On the coast of Crete during the day the temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius, at night it drops to 18 — it's not so cold, but Olga spent many hours in the water.