How Florida's “Lieutenant Dan” survived Hurricane Milton in his sailboat: “God told me to…”

Despite Tampa Mayor Jane Castor's serious evacuation warning to residents ahead of Hurricane Milton, one man decided not to leave his sailboat. Authorities said they offered to help him evacuate, but he was determined to stay put.

The man, nicknamed “Lieutenant Dan” after actor Gary Sinise's character in “Forrest Gump,” went viral on TikTok for refusing to leave the sailboat. In fact, people even started replacing bets on whether he would live or die. Fortunately, according to social media posts, Lieutenant Dan has now survived the hurricane.

“God told me to come out here and get a boat.”

In a video shared on TikTok by user Terrence Concannon on Tuesday, Oct. 8, Lt. Dan, whose real name is reportedly Joseph Malinowski, told an interviewer why he chose to stay in the military despite the danger in his 20th birthday -Foot boat to stay.

“My faith in God,” Malinowski said. “God told me to come out here and get a boat. I came here and got a boat. He's been telling me for the last two days that I'm doing the right thing. He's behind me. I'm doing well. We will get through this.”

Asked if he would wear a life jacket, Malinowski said, “Hell no.”

“The safest place in the world is my boat,” he continued.

Local officials had previously said they were concerned for Malinowski's safety. “After several conversations, (Malinowski) informed our officers of evacuation plans this morning and we offered our assistance,” a Tampa Police spokesperson told People.

“Our priority is to make every effort to keep our community safe during this storm. However,” the police spokesperson continued, “there will come a point where conditions deteriorate to the point where our officers will no longer be able to safely access individuals, which is why we are now making additional efforts,” the statement continued.

However, Malinowski refused to leave. Mayor Castor's spokesman later said: “Our public safety team has had multiple conversations with this individual to persuade him to make the decision to seek shelter for safety reasons as the hurricane approaches.” At some point (on Wednesday ) shortly before the press conference, he had agreed to leave his boat, but it appears that he did not do so.”

Concannon even started a GoFundMe for Malinowski. The page reads: “We join together to help our dear friend Lieutenant Dan, who lives on a sailboat and embodies the spirit of a true pirate. He is the kindest soul who never asks for anything but is always ready to lend a hand. His current ship has seen better days and we would like to surprise him with a new boat to continue his seafaring adventures. Let’s come together and show our support for this modern-day pirate by helping him get a new ship to sail the seas!”

Adin Ross offers Lieutenant Dan a $10,000 boat, a kick deal

Meanwhile, Adin Ross offered Malinowski a $10,000 boat and a kick deal. During a livestream on October 10, Ross collaborated with Malinowski via video call. Ross once said, “We were able to come up… I'll be able to pay for a boat for you.” We'll get you a nice boat in the $50,000 to $100,000 price range and we'll get you a full-time kick deal, which is a live streaming deal where you can stream all your travels and all your adventures. ”

“And you can make passive income. Yeah, you're going to have a kick deal – a livestreaming deal – so you can do livestreams and engage with fans around the world and they can really see your adventure, man,” he added.