It was a rebirth for this 42-year-old fisherman S. Jagan of Meenavar Colony, Thoothukudi, from the cyclone ‘ Ockhi.’
He was the lone survivor from a crew of fishermen, who sailed a boat off Quilon (Kollam). The crew, including Jagan and five others, including Jude, a cyclone victim buried here on Saturday, headed off to Quilon for want of job on November 27 and the next day, managed to sail a boat.
It was on November 28, the boat with a crew of 16 fishermen in total, ventured into sea off Quilon at 11 p.m. But, unfortunately, the ill fated boat caught in the cyclone at high seas on November 29.
The wrecked boat gave hard time for the crew, but Mr. Jagan along with two fellow fishermen of Kanyakumari managed to survive.
‘With the aid of fuel can, I battled for survival. More importantly, a country boat (vallam) aboard three fishermen, sailed nearby, was a talisman for my rebirth as I braved the rough sea, holding the boat till the last hour of survival”, he recalled his experience.
At last, the survivor said he was airlifted in the search and rescue mission and admitted to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on December 1.
After eight days of hospitalisation, the survivor was discharged on December 8 and reached home safe by an ambulance, his wife said.
