In addition to fighting off jellyfish, a man, James Michael Grimes, who fell off a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico and was under for more than 20 hours claimed he survived by eating bamboo

In addition to fighting off marine animals, a man who fell off a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico and was under for more than 20 hours claimed he survived by eating bamboo.

In an exclusive interview with Good Morning America, James Michael Grimes,28, said he fell overboard on Thanksgiving Eve after being on the Carnival Valor for one day. Before the fall, Grimes and his sister were last seen together at a restaurant where he won an air guitar contest and went to the bathroom. He stated the fall left him unconscious and remembers waking up in the water.

“The next thing I know… I regained consciousness. I was in the water with no boat in sight. I felt like I was given a chance right then… you’re alive for a reason… that [fall] could’ve killed me, but I felt like from that moment on, I was trying to stay positive.”