Had it not been for a group of friends sailing around the island of Kos, chances are that Mohammed’s odyssey would not have had a happy ending.

The 28-year-old was among 40 Syrian refugees travelling from Turkey to Kos on a small boat with two paddles.

During the journey, one of the oars was knocked by the waves into the sea and Mohammed dived into the water hoping to retrieve it.

However, bad weather conditions and strong currents blocked his way back to the boat; his travel companions were only able to throw a life jacket for him to catch.

When Mohammed was spotted in the water, he had already been swimming for 13 hours.

Former-model Sandra Tsilligerdu and her friends were on a speedboat returning from their excursion at the small island of Pserimos, near Kos. At first glance, thinking that Mohammed was a diver, they tried to slow down and avoid hitting him.

As she told Mega Channel, once they realised the man had been left stranded, they dragged him up the boat, provided first aid assistance and tried to keep him warm with blankets until they reached Kos.

On 28 August, the day after the incident, Mrs Tsilligerdu uploaded a photo of herself next to Mohammed and shared the story online.

“We rescued a man who was in the water for 13 hours, in a half-fainted state.

“He had sacrificed himself to save his friends and we came across him in order to rescue him. Feeling blessed”, Mrs Tsilligerdu wrote on her Facebook page.

According to reports, the group of Syrian refugees had departed from the Turkish coast at 5.00 am and when Mohammed’s family reached Kos seven hours later, they reported him missing.

Following a fruitless five hour search and rescue mission, the Greek coast guard assumed Mohammed had drowned.