A man sailing alone across the Pacific Ocean shared a harrowing update of how he "almost died" after he suffered a blow to the head that knocked him unconscious. American solo sailor Luke Hartley, who goes by sailing_songbird on Instagram, shared the concerning update in a post uploaded to the platform on December 12. In the video, Luke said he was hit in the face by his sailboat boom, which extends out from the mast, at "an incredibly high speed" while he was about a mile out from the nation of Tonga.
The impact swept former music teacher Luke off his feet and left him draped unconscious for a time over the lifelines of his 27ft-long sailboat Songbird. The clip, which Luke said was very difficult for him to watch and can be viewed on his Instagram.
The clip, showed him calling for help as part of a mayday where he expressed concerns he was about to pass out. Fearing he would not be able to complete an anchorage alone, he requested assistance from nearby sailors. Luke said the incident left him in shock and "in no way capable" of completing the sail to get into the Vava'u island group in Tonga without an engine. He believed he was haemorrhaging "since all I could see was green".
Thankfully, after an hour, Luke managed to get the support of sailors who helped him get to Tonga. Luke praised the "boundless" support he received and despite in hindsight viewing his mayday call as unnecessary, the sailors told him he did the right thing "given the severity of my head trauma," although thankfully it did not have a long-term impact.
