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Majuro, Marshall Islands (CNN) -- How long did Jose Salvador Alvarenga, the man who washed up on the shores of a group of Pacific islands last week, spend adrift at sea?
He says it was around 13 months. Local fishermen in the area of Mexico he set off from say he may have been gone for a month longer than that. But some people have suggested he looks too healthy for somebody who'd been through such an ordeal.
Officials in the Marshall Islands -- where the bearded, shaggy haired Alvarenga turned up last Thursday in a heavily damaged boat -- say they've abandoned efforts to pin down the length of time he spent lost in the ocean.
"We gave up on trying to find out the truth of how long he drifted," said Anjanette Kattil. "Time will confirm his story. What we've been concentrating on is his medical condition to see if he's OK and his repatriation."
Alvarenga's story has raised questions about how he managed to survive on a small boat for so long. "He looks way better than I would have expected for someone who has drifted for as long as he says he has," Kattil said Wednesday. "But there is no question he has drifted for quite some time and he has washed up on our shores."
Alvarenga has said he lived off fish and turtles he had caught and relied on rainwater, and sometimes his own urine, to try to stay hydrated.
Doctors in the Marshall Islands have told government officials that the castaway's immune system is very weak and that his symptoms are consistent with someone who has signs of severe dehydration and a diet of only meat.
But his condition is improving and he was released from the hospital Tuesday.
One of his first acts was to get a haircut and a shave, ditching his tangled locks and bushy beard.
"For days he's been asking for a haircut," Kattil said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/10620965/ Castaway-unable-to-return-home-as-his-health-declines.htmlCastaway unable to return home as his health declines
A castaway who travelled 8000 miles across the Pacific from Mexico has weakened after struggling to adapt to life on land and has been forced to delay his journey home.
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One of his doctors, Roner Mendoza, told The Telegraph that Mr Alvarenga has not been drinking enough water since arriving on land and may have been accustomed to consuming only small amounts while at sea. He also may have developed an infection after coming into contact with other people again, Dr Mendoza said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/06/world/asia/marshall-islands-castaway/
Majuro, Marshall Islands (CNN) -- After showing signs of improvement, Jose Salvador Alvarenga's health has deteriorated. Alvarenga, who said he was lost at sea for 13 months, returned to a hospital Thursday to be intravenously fed, Mexican Deputy Chief of Mission and Trade Christian Clay-Mendoza said. "Doctors say he's severely dehydrated and low on vitamins and minerals," he said.
Alvarenga, an El Salvadoran who had been living in Mexico, washed ashore on the Marshall Islands eight days ago. Earlier this week, his condition improved enough that he was released from a hospital.
Doctors said Alvarenga's limbs have started to swell, and they can't seem to keep him hydrated.
But Alvarenga did manage to leave the hospital briefly Thursday to make a few comments to the media. Bewildered by all the cameras, he thanked the government and people of the Marshall Islands for their care and friendship. After his minute-long remark, officials whisked him back to the hospital. Plans for Alvarenga's repatriation to El Salvador on Friday have now been postponed due to his health.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/castaway-s-odd-land-diet-helped-him-at-sea-1.1642715#.UvNQmPYuo7A (http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/castaway-s-odd-land-diet-helped-him-at-sea-1.1642715#.UvNQmPYuo7A)
Chocohuital - Well before his incredible tale of survival in a 13-month Pacific odyssey, Jose Salvador Alvarenga consumed raw fish and turtle blood in his Mexican fishing village - the very things that saved him at sea.
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Experts say it is theoretically possible to survive such a journey, though many have a hard time believing his story. But not his friends in Chocohuital. Rodriguez said the boat seen in news footage belongs to the community. “It's from here. It has the licence number and the name of our co-operative,” he said, noting that the vessel was also covered in small seashells that latch on at sea and that fishermen usually remove.
Fisherman Erick Manuel Velazquez said most in the village have contingency plans in case they get lost at sea, but that Alvarenga had the most unusual preparation. “This man ate everything. He would even eat dog food,” Velazquez said. “He would tell us: One day, I'll have to stay at sea.”
Local people believe turtles have magical effects on health, but “La Chancha” drank their blood because he liked it, so it was little surprising for his friends that he consumed it to stay alive. “He would drink the turtle blood. I have tried it, but because I was sick with asthma and when it was over, I stopped drinking it,” Velazquez said.
Guillermina Morales, a woman who runs an eatery for the fishermen, doubted that Alvarenga, who moved to Mexico 15 years ago, had lost his head. “How could he be crazy? If he was crazy, he wouldn't have survived. Here, he acted like an honourable and working man,” she said. “He was also brave.”