Rafael Graça do Prado, 32, who runs a tourism boating business, has told how he spotted the large plastic ball while in the sea off Lazaro Beach near Sao Paulo, Brazil
Moment boy, 8 rescued from floating bubble in middle of sea
A boy was found inside a large bubble out at sea by an alarmed sailor who was with his family in a boat.
Rafael Graça do Prado, 32, was on a boat trip with his children when he saw the bizarre object floating in the water off Lazaro Beach in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, on December 24. Footage shows the transparent bubble in the sea with the young boy, aged around eight, inside.
He is understood to have been playing with his parents on the beach inside the bubble which was held by a rope to stop it from blowing away. But the rope had snapped and the boy drifted out to sea where thankfully he was spotted by Rafael. He explained that his main concern was whether there was enough oxygen inside the ball.
“I was worried about whether he was able to breathe or not because the balls can be dangerous,” he said. “There is a certain amount of time that you can breathe inside it. I calmed him down, and that was when my daughter started filming.”
He continued: “He was very scared, alone in the middle of the sea. I asked him if he was breathing well and he gave me a thumbs up. People rent them and leave them here on the shore, holding them by a rope. However, the rope came loose and a strong wind came, which blew the ball away. In fact, it had already hit the rocks and was punctured, it was leaking.”
Rafael, who runs a tourism boating business, said that he first spoke to the boy to keep him calm and then he called over another boat and they used a rope to bring the plastic bubble back to shore. “We put a rope through the bubble and dragged it as fast as we could, because we couldn’t go too fast, or we could hurt the boy.” he told Metropoles.
Rafael continued: “I said not to open the zipper on the bubble, so that there would be no risk of the boy jumping into the water in panic, or water getting inside the ball and making things worse. We brought him to the beach and the family was very desperate, crying.” People have been warned in the region of the dangers from using the inflatable bubbles and other floatable objects as they are susceptible to blowing away.
Karoline Magalhães, from the Maritime Firefighters Group said they should only be used in swimming pools. “This type of toy is new to us on the beaches,” she said. “It comes from swimming pools and now we are starting to have certain types of problems because this ball is easily dragged by the wind.” She added: “For every three deaths at sea, a drowning process begins with floating objects. Whether it’s a surfboard, an inflatable mattress, or these buoys, floating objects at sea are not safe.”