SERIOUS CONDITION

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 88, 14 April 1945, Page 5

SERIOUS CONDITION

New Zealander's Long Voyage

On Raft

NOW DELIRIOUS IN HOSPITAL

SYDNEY, April 13. It was. reported yesterday that a young man, who gave his name as Laurence Johnson, of Ngatai Street, Manaia, Taranaki, arrived at a farmhouse near Bombo, 70 miles north of Sydney. He was naked and completely exhausted. Later he told the police that his ship had been wrecked in a cyclone off the coast of New Guinea, and he had drifted on a raft for three weeks.

A subsequent seport stated that Johnson was in a serious condition in Kiama Hospital, about 70 miles from Sydney. He was delirious and his face and left leg were badly swollen, apparently by exposure to sun and weather. His amazing story still remains unconfirmed.

He could not recall whether Laurence Johnson was his correct name. He also said he was a naval gunner, naming his ship, but it has been impossible yet to check his story. Johnson is dark and a fine physical type. He had a beard and is suntanned. He can recall very little of what happened on the raft beyond the fact that he was alone and living on ample emergency rations stowed on. it.

At first Johnson's story was doubted because his condition did not seem consistent with a man who had been weeks adrift. Doctors now state that it is evident that he has been through some terrible ordeal.