Given that the central storyline revolves around whether or not Mickey's final fight actually happened - at least from the general public's point of view - it makes sense that director Alex Ranarivelo and his co-screenwriter would boost the character mythology by having their protagonist survive.
As far as the viewers are concerned, they just poured all their hearts into the movie.
But is it based on a real-life story? He disclosed concern about contracting a water-borne parasite that could kill someone within 30 seconds.