Leonardo DiCaprio rescues man who fell off cruise ship and tread water for 11 hours

St. Barts, Carribean Sea — Leonardo DiCaprio got to play a real-life hero to a man who fell off a yacht in the Caribbean and had to tread water for hours. The Oscar-winning actor, his girlfriend and their friends were on a luxury vessel last week when an emergency call went out asking for help looking for the man, Britain's The Sun newspaper reported.

The vessel carrying DiCaprio and his crew was near the island of St. Bart's, and the man fell overboard near the neighboring island of St. Martin, according to the Sun. "The captain of his ship sent out a panicked emergency message and Leonardo and his team agreed to look for the poor guy," a source told the newspaper.

The man was found near Saba island, south of St. Martin, the Sun reported. He was severely dehydrated and had been treading water for 11 hours, the source told the newspaper.

"I should have died," the man reportedly said after he was rescued. The luxury vessel's crew gave him food and dry clothes before handing him off to authorities.

A source told The Sun the man was a Club Med cruise worker who drank too much alcohol before going overboard.

The ship’s captain sent out as emergency message and DiCaprio’s yacht was the only boat to respond and go on the search.

The captain likened the worker’s chance of survival at "one in a billion — like winning the lottery twice,” according to the source.

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