Rescued sailor is mentally stable, says father

V.C. Tomy, father of Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tomy, on Monday heaved a sigh of relief as he heard about his son being finally rescued by a French vessel from the high seas in the southern Indian Ocean.

"Yes, he has been rescued by a ship and what I can say is he is mentally stable. Now with this news, we are relieved 75 per cent. We all were tense for the past three days...," Tomy, who retired as a Lieutenant Commander in the Indian Navy, the same rank as that of his son, told the media here.

The junior Tomy suffered a serious back injury as he was taking part representing his country in the international solo circumnavigation Golden Globe Race (GGR) 2018.

He was at position in the competition when the tragedy struck after the flag post of the 10-metre-long vessel SV Thuriya fell on his back.

"This is basically an adventure and in such events it's a 50:50 chance and he and we were well aware of this. He will come out of it. What we are told is that he is going to be moved to Amsterdam. Initially it was said he would be taken to Australia. His brother is there in Australia and I have also started to move my papers to go to be with him. We are happy now as the prayers of so many has been answered," said the retired naval Commander.

The 39-year-old Kirti Chakra winner created history when he successfully undertook a solo mission, circumnavigating the globe non-stop on a boat powered by winds, in 2013.

He set sail in his boat, named INSV Mhadei, from Mumbai on November 1 and returned on April 6 next year and became the first Indian and only the second Asian to achieve this feat by going around the globe in the high seas for 150 days.

On his return, he was greeted by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, then President of India Pranab Mukherjee, in Mumbai, on April 6.

--IANS

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