We always think that movie-like situations seldom happen in real life. But this piece of news, which looks as if it has come straight from a film, might change our perception. In a full filmy style, 3 men who had been missing for three days were rescued from an uninhabited Pacific island after a US Navy Plane spotted the word ‘H-E-L-P’ spelled out in palm fronds on the beach.

The three friends were on a sailing trip from Pulap, an island from the Federated States of Micronesia when a sudden storm sunk their boat and cast them into the sea on April 4. They had no option but to swim two miles of dark water before finding salvation in the tiny, isolated island of Fanadik. Later, the men’s families reported them missing after which the US Coast Guard set out for their rescue mission. According to reports, two vessels that were sent on the rescue mission have conducted a combined 17-hour search of 178 miles.

Luckily, on April 7th morning, a navy crew spotted them on the beach, holding their life jackets and standing next to piles of palm leaves arranged to spell out four capital letters: H-E-L-P. A local boat then picked up the men and took them to the hospital.

“Our combined efforts, coupled with the willingness of many different resources to come together and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in a very remote part of the Pacific,” said Lt. William White, a Sector Guam public affairs officer. Coast Guard officials also said that the “ingenuity of these men to build their sign and the preparedness of having life jackets also contributed to their safe rescue.”

A reel-inspired real life story, isn’t it?