When it comes to scary things that can happen to you, being swallowed whole by an actual whale must be up there as the scariest. In fact, if somehow this situation did arise, we doubt you would ever experience anything scarier in your entire life.
Not, however, if you happen to be Michael Packard.
On June 11, 2021, lobster diver Packard ventured out at sunrise and took in a couple of routine dives. On his third excursion below the surface though, things went a little bit too south.
Speaking to The Cape Cod Times, Packard explained, "I just got slammed. Just like a freight train […] and then all of a sudden it went black. And water was just rushing, rushing around me, and black, and I could feel pressure on my whole body. And I was just moving through the water like wicked fast.
"And I'm like 'what the f**k'. And instantly I knew I was in a whale, not a shark […] and then my regulator fell out […] and I was like, 'I better grab that f**king thing'. And I put it back in my mouth. And I'm in there, and I'm trying to get out, and [the whale's] f**king freaking out."
Unsurprisingly, the 59-year-old didn't have high hopes for survival once he realized what was happening.
"And I'm thinking to myself, 'This is it, Michael. This is it. This is how you die'. And I was 100 percent sure that […] I wouldn't get out of this situation. It was a done deal, and I thought about my kids and my wife."
Yet, remarkably, the whale decided it had other plans for breakfast and spat Packard back out.
"All of a sudden [the whale] just got to the surface and he started shaking his head and getting all erratic […] and then boom! I f**king fly out of his mouth. And I'm like, 'Oh my god.'
"I'm floating, cos my suit is like a dry suit and I didn't have time to deflate it when I was coming up, because the air expands, of course. So here I am, this big blimp on the surface. Thank god I kept breathing, so I didn't get the bends, or whatever."
While Packard may have taken offense at not being a tasty enough morning snack for the whale, this horrifying experience doesn't even top the lobster diver's list of scariest moments. That particular title goes to the time he was in a plane crash.
In 2001, Packard was onboard a flight in Costa Rica from San José to Puerto Jimenez when the plane crashed, killing three people. Packard and four other passengers managed to survive in the jungle for two nights with multiple broken bones before being rescued.
"What haunts me more is my plane crash. I sat in the jungle for three days […] punctured lung and four broken ribs, 180 stitches in my head, cut Achilles.
"I probably would have lasted another day, so I had a lot of time to think about my mortality, so that was definitely more PTSD than this."
So, naturally, you would expect that a man who has been through all of this is looking at taking it easy for the rest of his life. Right?
Wrong.
Packard explained that his perspective on life is: "I'm still the same old guy doing my same old s**t."
So maybe if you notice him in your vicinity at any point in the future, just do yourselves a favor and go in the opposite direction. Just to be safe.
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