Elvis Francois, the fisherman who said he survived by eating only ketchup when he was stranded at sea for 24 days, is now getting a boat from Heinz. The ketchup manufacturer first asked social media users to help track down Francois.
“We need your help tracking down an amazing man with an amazing story,” the company wrote on Feb. 14. “Don’t forget to share this post with all your friends so we can #FindTheKetchupBoatGuy.”
A media outlet known as Emo News then tracked down the fisherman in the Caribbean island of Dominica.
“I knew Elvis lived in the community near me and I took a drive to go and look for him – and found him,” Emerline Anselm, the CEO of Emo News, told Business Insider.
Anselm joined Francois in a live Facebook video on Thursday to prove that he has been located and that he was not an impersonator.
“I would say I’m a kind of mysterious person; I like to travel,” Francois said in the video.
“We’ve hopped into your DMs – let’s get Elvis his boat!” a Heinz representative commented on the video.
Speaking to Insider, the Heinz representative said the company had spoken to Francois and it’s “working through the logistics of gifting him a new boat.”
“Depending on the size of the boat I could use the boat to do fishing or tours of the Caribbean,” Francois said according to Insider.
As Blavity previously reported, the 47-year-old man was rescued after being stranded on a boat for 24 days in the Caribbean sea.
“I had no food. It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi (seasoning) so I mixed it up with some water,” Francois said in a video shared by the navy, according to Vibe.
The Dominican man said severe weather dragged him into the sea while he was fixing his boat near Saint Martin island in December and he struggled to return to the shore.
Francois was saved after a pilot, who was flying near the area, noticed the word “help” written on the boat.
