After falling from her shrimp boat and spending the night floating and swimming in the water Melinda Lopez made it to the offshore rig about daybreak Wednesday. There, she found food, water and some paint with which she painted an SOS on the platform.

Lopez also made a balloon out of a black plastic bag and spray painted it with another plea for help before triggering an alarm system on the platform, which activated sirens and lights.

The SOS was spotted early Wednesday by a Coast Guard pilot, 27 hours after she fell from her boat and desperately watched boat after boat pass her by.