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It started of as a lads’ fishing trip but it ended in tragedy and a near-death experience that Jim Nicholson is now coming to terms with more than 10 years later. It was on Sunday, June 2, 2013, that he found myself swimming in the Indian Ocean towards Lancelin Island off the west coast of Australia. He had been lost at sea for three hours and the only thing that kept him going was that he had to see his family again. Jim had set out with three mates all in their forties: Paul Clifton, his brother Neil, and Paul’s brother-in-law, Colin Gude. “It was about 9am and we’d been drift fishing about three kilometres west of Lancelin Island for an hour when we decided to head into calmer waters,” says business director Jim. “Little did we know the boat had been silently filling with water.” When they started the engine, water rushed to the back of the boat, forcing the bow up and the motor down. “Suddenly water started coming up from the floor and in less than two minutes we had our life jackets on and Paul tried to make a mayday call,” the 55-year-old from Perth remembers. They jumped into the sea and surfaced to find the boat almost submerged. “We hung onto the bow rail trying to take in what had happened when all of a sudden the hatch blew out and the boat disappeared.” There was no time to talk or to plan their rescue. “When you are faced with the situation we were, I have learnt there is no right or wrong. Do you stay together or separate, do you swim or conserve your energy?” he says. The panic set in and Jim decided to swim for the island, but his life jacket had twisted. “If you’ve ever tried to put one on in ten seconds when a boat is sinking, you soon discover it doesn’t always go to plan.” He considered taking it off to fix it, but something stopped him. “If I had taken it off in the water, I’m certain I wouldn’t have got it back on.” Jim began swimming on his back, using the moon above the horizon to guide him, but he lost sight of the others. Intense body cramps and fatigue set in. He stayed afloat like this for three hours, terrified and desperate. He was exhausted when a cray boat finally spotted him. “The only thing that kept me going was that I had to see my family again. Physically spent, I was dragged into the boat,” he says. The crew raised the alarm and, half an hour later, rescuers found the others. Paul had died in his brother’s arms. “We think he swallowed too much salt water,” Jim remembers. Paul Clifton was 49. He was, Jim says, “the ultimate family man”. Married to Ange, with two children, Bree and Ryan, he lived on a small hobby farm in the Perth hills where he grew passionfruit and restored old Ford Mustangs. Jim was treated for hypothermia and shock. The weeks that followed were marked by grief and confusion. “I cried whenever someone came to see me, I cried with the nurses, I cried on my own,” he says. He was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and spent months struggling with flashbacks, anxiety and guilt. “One minute I’d be sitting on the couch and the next I’d be back in the water swimming for my life,” he remembers. Jim sold his boat and could no longer watch fishing shows. “Every time there was a report of another boating accident, I sat glued to the TV. Then for the rest of the day and night I’d relive it,” he says. “I’d go to the supermarket, fill my trolley, and not be able to go through the checkout. Socialising, even with close friends, became hard. I couldn’t work, couldn’t think straight.” His marriage, already under strain, eventually collapsed. “My ex said I wasn’t the man I used to be,” he says. “She was right, I wasn’t.” Forced into retirement by his illness, Jim says he still remembers the sea clearly. “No one should die alone,” he says. “I was alone in the water for three hours facing the reality of dying. But I didn’t. I made it home. I couldn’t be happier today. I live each day as it comes. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery." For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .
