He spent nearly 20 hours alone, treading water in the Gulf of Mexico after falling off a cruise ship and being saved on Thanksgiving. James Michael Grimes said the experience has taught him to not take life for granted. Grimes told a network news outlet that his worst fear is drowning but he never accepted that that was going to be how his life ended. The 28-year-old from Lafayette, Alabama said he ate what looked like a bamboo stick and fought off what appeared to be a shark before he saw the lights of a tanker and swam toward it. More detailsA Coast Guard crew circled the tanker and finally spotted him. Though harrowing, Grimes said the experience will not discourage him from taking another cruise.