Australian Couple Survive for 3 Days at Sea on Paddleboard: 'You Got To Buy Some Lotto Tickets'

An Australian couple seeking a wilderness experience on a remote island spent three days adrift at sea aboard a paddle board until they were rescued by boaters.

Lorne Benussi told multiple outlets including The Guardian that he was on a recreational fishing trip with his father, Denis, when he heard screams coming from the water, during a driving rainstorm on Monday night.

Benussi found a man and a woman, treading water in the choppy sea off the coast of Curtis Island. "They just collapsed, they could hardly move. They were just absolutely buggered, the pair of them," Benussi said, who had to drag them onto the boat they were so weak.

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Through the night, the couple — identified as being in their 40s and from Brisbane — worked to recover, drinking water, taking hot showers and sleeping. "The bloke, he must have drunk a bit of saltwater," Benussi said. "He was sort of cramping and very broken. I gave them cordial, trying to get their sugars up ... they were up and down all night trying to get water."

When they woke up, they told the Benussis that they had set out to paddleboard on Saturday off the coast of North West Island, but drifted out into the ocean when they got caught in a strong tide.

They were without life jackets, and then they lost the board shortly before they were rescued by the father and son.

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"If they had floated the other way it would've been a whole different story," Benussi said about the couple's fortunate drift towards the coast, rather than further out to sea.

When they were able to get a signal, Benussi alerted authorities to the situation, and the couple were met by first responders on land.

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The Queensland Ambulance Authority confirmed that "two patients were transported to Capricorn Coast hospital in a stable condition" after being found in the ocean where they were "reportedly adrift for three days," per The Guardian. They were suffering from shock and exhaustion and were in stable condition, The Times reported.

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The happy ending was not lost on the fisherman.

"If you were just floating in the water with no lifejacket or nothing on and you make it more than 36 hours, you got to buy some Lotto tickets," Benussi said.