Half-a-bed is all that Patrick Fernandez, 63, has inside the overcrowded Ward No: 1 at the medical college hospital. He lies still on his corner of bed no: 36, careful not to disturb the patient occupying the other half.
The fisherman from Thumba had, in fact, managed to bag even this cramped bed-space only on Sunday. “For two whole days he had to make do with a mattress on the floor. He's getting good medical attention here. But he has suffered a stroke and cannot stand or sit on his own. Shouldn't such a patient be allotted at least a bed?” says his wife Juliet, a diminutive woman with worry lines creasing her face.
Since last week, Mr Fernandez - father of two, survivor of the 2017 Cyclone Ockhi disaster and member of the gritty ‘fishermen army’ which rescued hundreds in the 2018 floods - has passed through a terrible experience which raises questions about the safety and welfare measures launched for fishermen.
Mr Fernandez suffered a mild stroke while fishing with his elder brother Basil, 65, some 20 km off Thumba coast on Thursday evening.
“There were just the two of us in ‘Savio,’ my boat. We had left Thumba by 4 p.m. Two hours later we were in deeper waters. We were casting the nets when I began to feel uneasy. I had problem balancing. I couldn't even tie the rope on the net. Basil had to do it for me,” Mr Fernandez, still weak from his experience, recalls.
By then the weather had turned rough. The wind was sharper, kicking up huge waves. His panic-stricken calls for help to various government agencies allegedly fell on deaf ears.
He tried the Marine Enforcement on his mobile phone, but no help was forthcoming from that quarter, at least for the moment. He says he tried other agencies as well, including the Coast Guard, Fisheries Department and the coastal police.
Rough seas
“They advised us to make for the nearest land,” Mr Fernandez said. Other fishermen in the area whom he contacted rushed to help. Some time later, a marine enforcement vessel appeared on the scene. But the rough seas posed a problem.
“They couldn't do anything much. Their boat was bigger than ours and any attempt to close in would have been dangerous. I was also afraid that I would fall into the sea if I tried to board any of the fishing boats,” he said.
In between, he lost his balance and fell, cracking his head hard against the outboard engine.
“The pain was excruciating,” he recalled. Fortunately for him, a fisherman from one of the other boats managed to board ‘Savio.' He soon re-started the engine and the boat headed for land. It was 10 p.m. when they made it to Thumba. There, a waiting ambulance and police jeep rushed Mr Fernandez to the medical college hospital and ward no: 1 where he has remained since.
“No one has visited. After Ockhi, the government had promised Navik weather alert sets to us. Though we registered our names, we are yet to get them. They would have come in handy if we had had them on Thursday,” he said.
