A CASTAWAY Brit told last night how he drifted past New York on his way to the Atlantic when a wooden raft broke free from its mooring.

Tourist Armaan Munglani, 19, thought he was a goner when the flimsy 8ft pontoon swept past the sights of Manhattan towards the Statue of Liberty in the dead of night.

But he was rescued after more than two hours 2.5 miles downstream by firemen in when his sodden mobile phone dried and sparked back into life.

Media management student Armaan, of Epsom, Surrey, said last night: "I felt like a real life Robinson Crusoe – lost and helpless. I even wrote my epitaph listing my favourite things as I drifted to oblivion."

Adventurous Armaan had booked an apartment in the Big Apple when he decided on a late-night tour across the Hudson River in New Jersey.

He wandered into deserted Jersey Marina for a nose around at 2.30 when he stepped on the raft at the end of the docks to admire the view.

As it bobbed up and down, the single rope securing it slipped away – releasing him into the fast-flowing tributary.

The non-swimmer said: "One foot was on the dock and one on the raft, and there was only one way I could go, the raft.

"I thought 'I'm going to be dead in an hour with all these big boats around'. I felt a sitting duck, a piece of floating garbage.

"The river was faster than a jog, but slower than a run. In panic I dropped my wallet over the side and my phone which got wet on the deck and stopped working. I couldn't call for help.

"I really did think this was my last day on the planet – no-one would find me if I reached the Atlantic Sea.

"I few cruisers went by and I tried to wave, but it was useless. Screaming was pointless as the river is so vast I would not have been heard.

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"I carry a little black book for contacts, so I started writing in it the things that are important to me, my last words to my family, my friends, people I know, people that matter to me – it was my epitaph.

"The Statue of Liberty was looming. The views of Manhattan were amazing, but I was hardly in a position to take them in.

"Then, near Governors Island, my phone started to work again. I dialled 911. I was hysterical saying 'come and save me, I'm going to die', I was going nuts.

"An FDNY patrol boat came to collect me. They hauled me on board and asked me for identity – but I had lost my wallet. They were very good humoured about it.

"That night will haunt me for the rest of my life. I haven't told my mum and dad back home yet."

He added: "I've ripped up the piece of paper. you don't want anyone reading that stuff while you are still alive."

Captain Louis Guzzo, commander of the FDNY’s Marine Company 6, said: "He was in a bad spot — right in the middle of the Staten Island ferry traffic.

“This guy was on a makeshift platform and it was really unstable. How he got across the harbour on that platform and survived is pretty miraculous.

You had the wind blowing him, choppy waters.

“He had to maintain balance on this thing. You wouldn’t put this thing on a lake let alone New York Harbour.”

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