On Friday 4 June, Rune Myrseth (54) was going out to set and pull crayfish stones on Frohavet, outside Frøya west of Trondheim.
It was going to be an experience he will soon forget.
– I realized that there were bad odds of survival when I was in the sea, he says to TV 2.
It was Frøya who first mentioned the case.
Rune Myrseth has been at sea since 1995. He has great respect for the sea, and has both dived and fished for many years.
On Friday afternoon, he had an accident that could cost him his life.
Stuck
It was sunny and calm water. The conditions were absolutely perfect for a day at sea.
– It was a beautiful day. It was hardly a gust of wind, says Myrseth.
When he was going to put out and pull the crayfish stones, he had to kick away some of the rope around his legs so that it would not pile up even more.
Then he noticed that it tightened around his leg before he was pulled back in the boat.
– I fell over and was pulled backwards in the boat, before I was thrown overboard. Then the first priority was to get my foot loose before the pot sank under me, he says.
In the fall, his glasses disappeared. Because he is nearsighted, he struggled to see the rope around his foot.
– I only saw the sea. It gets a little more twisted when you do not see so well, he says and laughs a little at it.
When he had got his foot loose, the boat was already so far forward that he had no choice but to swim for it.
Crucial
Myrseth was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, a pair of rubber boots and a pair of rain pants with floating elements.
It is the latter garment that most likely saved his life.
– I always wear trousers with floating elements. Without it, I would not be alive today, that’s for sure. Vest is good, but then I would have been more chilled.
Myrset says that he has been told by the rescue company that it was estimated between nine and ten degrees in the waters.
– So it was fresh, you can say, he says.
The fisherman made a decision to keep the boots on to keep the feet warm.
The rain trousers, which had braces, he tightened with his mouth to pull the trousers as far up on the body as possible.
– When I started swimming, I took very short swims and left the rest of my body at rest. I tried to make a kind of wetsuit out of the rain pants to keep the water as warm as possible, he explains.
Full expression
After Myrseth had been in the water for an estimated three to four hours, his family had tried to get hold of him. They became uneasy when he never called back.
– It was reported to the Main Rescue Center, which started full expression. Both the rescue company and the helicopter were put in search of me. Amazingly, they found me after a very short time.
– I’ve been lucky all the way. It is thanks to them that I am sitting here today, he says.
However, he does not remember that he was picked up from the water or transported to the hospital.
What he remembers is that he wakes up in the emergency room at St. Olav’s hospital.
Lost the feeling in my legs
Myrseth further says that he had a body temperature of 28 degrees when he was transported to the emergency room at St. Olav’s hospital.
– It dawns a little on me that I had no feeling in my legs. I got the feeling back only on Saturday, he says.
– How are you right now?
– I’ve been beaten a bit. Large parts of the body are quite blue, but I have been lucky and got away with just a few scratches, he says.
The fisherman has no doubt that his many years of experience at sea came in handy when he was pulled overboard.
When asked if he has planned to go out to sea right away, Myrseth starts laughing.
– I was at sea today, and it went well, he says.
However, he believes that the next trips will be in the company of someone else in the first place.
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