Robert Hewitt: I wouldn't have made it through another night

Robert Hewitt, the diver who was found alive yesterday after 75 hours in the sea, gave an interview from his hospital bed to Newstalk ZB's Paul Holmes this morning.

Paul Homes: Well done, Robert. You sound bright.

Robert Hewitt: That's one of the things that kept me going, you have to have a sense of humour, you have to look on the bright side.

PH: How did you keep going?

RH: Whether I was afraid, one thing I must say is I was dying of thirst. But I suppose you look at young kids overseas who haven't got water to drink or anything like that so I just put myself in a mental state like that, you know what I mean.

PH: You said to yourself, 'If they can do it , I can do it, I can hang on'.

RH: Exactly, exactly. As for food and all that, I shed a few kilos, but maybe they were kilos that needed to be shed. [Laughs.]

PH: You were dehydrated.

RH: I was disillusionised (sic). The first day was good, but watching the aircraft shooting away and coming into the first sunset, it hurt quite a bit. So once I spent my first night there I sort of prepared myself, it was going to be a bit longer than I thought.

PH: Settle in?

RH: Yeah, settle in

PH: When we say that you were dehydrated, we understand that, but were you also getting a bit of hypothermia or wasn't it cold enough for that?

RH: I think I did get a bit of hypothermia because I was thinking of different things. I honestly thought yesterday afternoon that I was at home. And started taking some of my gear off here and there, and floundering around, like I was lost. I honestly thought I was at home with my fiancee Rangi and kids and I had just come back from diving. And all I said was 'sorry I'm a bit late', you know.

But the journey took me all the way down one side of the coast, out through the channel, back up to Waikanae and sort of back up around, funnily enough, the same island I got lost from.

PH: How long did you have left, do you reckon?

RH: I think, honestly, with the hallucinations that I had, especially yesterday, I don't think I would have made last night.

PH: Were you aware of being rescued?

RH: I actually thought - I was trying to figure it out - working in the Defence Force, you are looking at maybe four to five days the rescuers will keep on looking so I was very wary on the Monday.

PH: But when you were rescued, were you aware that this was a rescue? What was your mind like at that point?

RH: No, no, I was aware that the rescuers were going to be there, I just wasn't sure how long they were going to be there for.

PH: Fantastic. The other big question is, how many crayfish did you have on you?

RH: Just one.

PH: Wow!

RH: I just had one crayfish and four kina and after the first night I knew I had enough sustenance in my body to survive for 24 hours. But I knew after that I would sort of get into it and try and eat it.

PH: You didn't bring a cray back?

RH: No, I will have to go back next week and try and get the big fella I saw down there. [Laughs.]

PH: Oh me old mate, that's fantastic. People are so happy up and down the coutry, Robert.

RH: That's good, that's good. I would just like to thank everyone especially my family, my finacee and my immediate family for their support and also all the well-wishers out there. [Maori.]

PH: You are a miracle. Bye-bye robert.

RH: I appreciate it, Paul.