'Screaming' Boy Rescued By Sailor After Being Found in Inflatable Bubble Drifting Out to Sea: 'The Family Was Very Desperate'

A terrified 8-year-old boy was rescued after he was found adrift at sea off the coast of Brazil inside an inflatable plastic ball on Christmas Eve.

The child, stranded in the bubble, was discovered by Rafael Graça do Prado, 32, who was aboard a boat with his children when they spotted the inflatable ball and rushed to investigate. Inside, he found the boy in a panic, as reported by Metropoles.

"The boy was very desperate, he was hitting himself," Prado told Brazilian outlet Rede Onda Digital. "He was very scared out there in the middle of the sea alone. I asked him if he was breathing well, and he gave me a thumbs up. He was screaming inside, but I couldn't really understand him."

"I asked them not to open the zipper on the bubble, so that there would be no risk of the boy jumping into the water in despair, or water getting inside the buoy and making things worse," Prado told Metropoles.

Prado towed the bubble to shore using a steel cable. At the beach, the boy's family was visibly distraught.

"The family was very desperate," Prado told Metropoles, describing the tears of relief at the reunion.

Prado said that the family told him that the boy had been playing near the shore with the inflatable ball tethered to a cable. However, the cable came loose, and strong winds carried the bubble out to sea.

The boy's condition following the happy reunion was not detailed, and Brazil's maritime rescue group did not become involved in the case.