Rafter passes out with bottle of rum in lap and floats 7 miles, Indiana officials say

A man in Indiana is lucky to be alive after passing out and floating miles down a flooded Indiana river over Memorial Day weekend, officials say.

On Sunday, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said the man was intoxicated and had passed out in a raft — with a bottle of rum on his lap — and floated a whopping seven miles down the Blue River, according to a news release.

Indiana conservation officers received a number calls before responding to the river, but the two officers who spotted the rafter ran into a bit of trouble — they couldn’t wake him, the release said.

The officers shouted and blew a whistle from the riverbank, but to no avail, officials said. They also tried to pull him in with throw bags, but the equipment wouldn’t reach, according to the release.

Two more conservation officers set out in a boat while the others strung a tag line across the river, the release said. Officials also dispatched a rescue swimmer, all in the hope of rescuing the man before he went over the nearby Milltown Dam, according to the release.

Eventually, a deputy found him washed ashore only a couple miles from the dam, the release said.

The rafter was arrested after a medical evaluation, according to officials.