Friends who saw Ivan missing quickly alerted the local coast guard, and the Cassandra coast guard began an urgent search. But more than 10 hours later, they had to announce that Ivan from northern Macedonia had disappeared at sea.

Recently, Ivan from North Macedonia posed with his father and the mayor of Cassandra, Greece, Anastasia Chakia with a life-saving ball.

Last Thursday, 30-year-old North Macedonian citizen Ivan was vacationing at Miti Beach in Cassandra, Greece, when he was suddenly swept into the sea by a huge surging wave. The panicked Ivan had no time to call for help before he was carried to the middle of the sea by the waves.

Before his panicked companions had time to save him, Ivan was already drifting further and further away. Friends who saw Ivan missing quickly alerted the local coast guard, and the Cassandra coast guard began an urgent search. But more than 10 hours later, they had to announce that Ivan from northern Macedonia had disappeared at sea.

Originally, this was destined to become a tragedy. But miraculously, Ivan's life is saved when a child's ball floats toward him in the ocean. He clung to the under-inflated ball to help him float, driven by a strong desire to survive and with the help of the inflated ball. Rescuers found him 18 hours later and brought him back to shore. Ivan, who was rescued from the water on Sunday, is now recovering from the ordeal.

Coincidentally, a mother who saw his story stepped forward to fill in the blanks on how Ivan survived. When she saw the ball on TV, she recognized it as a toy her son had lost 10 days before Ivan was rescued. Triphon, 11, and Thanos, 6, had been playing with their favorite ball at Evgatis Beach on the Greek island of Lemnos on June 30 when waves washed it away.

But somehow, the current blew it 80 miles from the island and came to Ivan's side. Ivan told local media after the rescue that the ball was the reason he survived - even though it was only half-inflated.

However: Unfortunately, Ivan’s friend Martin Jovanovsky was also swept into the sea that day, and his whereabouts are still unknown