Abhilash Tomy
Commander Abhilash Tomy on Wednesday said that the "soldier" inside helped him in surviving the storm.
“Sea was unbelievably rough. Me and my boat Thuriya were pitched against the nature's might. I survived because of my sailing skills, the soldier bit in me and my Naval training cut-in for that fight. Very thankful to Indian Navy and all who rescued me,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Four days after he was seriously injured and stranded in a boat race, Tomy of the Indian Navy was rescued on Monday, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
He was picked up by a French fishing vessel Osiris, which had responded to an SOS from a massive joint operation launched by Indian and Australian authorities since the past three days.
"Bravo! Osiris and all involved! They have Tomy onboard and he is conscious and talking," said the Golden Globe Race-2018 in a message.
The naval sailor-cum-sportsperson participating in the GGR-2018, was caught in a huge storm on Friday, 5,020 km from Cape Comorin, India and 3,500 km from Perth, Australia, in the Indian Ocean.
His boat, SV Thuriya, had overturned while he was virtually left paralysed with severe back injuries but managed to relay messages to various authorities from his satphone.
(With inputs from agencies)
