Kochi/Mumbai: A day after he was rescued from the Indian Ocean off Australia, Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy, who suffered a grievous back injury while participating in the Golden Globe race, has been admitted to a hospital in a remote island, a Defence spokesman said here on Tuesday.
He said the French fisheries vessel Osiris, which rescued Commander Abhilash Tomy, reached off Amsterdam isle by 9:30 am and the sailor was subsequently transferred to the hospital there for further medical evaluation and treatment.
Tomy, 39, and Irishman Gregor McGuckin, 32, were injured after their boats lost masts in a storm at south Indian Ocean on Friday while competing in the prestigious race.
"Tomy and Gregor have been transferred ashore at 'Amsterdam isle' by a medical team and have been taken to hospital for X-Ray and medical checkup," the spokesman said.
He said the fishing vessel Osiris will remain in the area till HMAS Ballarat (Australian warship) and INS Satpura reach the island.
According to reports, the island only has a small hospital with limited facilities.
Tomy, who was sailing as part of the Golden Globe Race (GGR), drifted in the sea for three days before he was rescued by French fishing vessel Osiris, officials had said Monday.
A determined, focused sailor
"Abhilash is very determined and focused. That he volunteered to do the circumnavigation of the globe a second time itself speaks of his mental strength," Abhilash Tomy's mentor and race manager Cdr (retd) Dilip Donde told PTI on phone from Goa, where he is settled after retirement from the Navy.
"Initially, all of us were worried but now we are very relieved," Cdr Donde, who is credited with placing India in the group of countries whose sailors have accomplished solo circumnavigations, said.
In 2010, Cdr Donde became the first Indian to finish circumnavigation of the globe, with five stopovers, while his pupil Cdr Tomy did the same in 2013, without any stopovers.
Cdr Tomy was participating in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), being held to commemorate 50th anniversary of the first non-stop sailing by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, when his 32-feet long yacht dismasted after Friday's storm.
GGR participants are are using 1968-vintage equipment for the daunting voyage.
"None of us have spoken to him yet. But it looks like when he was inside, he suffered an injury to his back, which made him immobile inside the bunk," Cdr Donde said, adding the fate of a satellite phone kept for emergencies is also not known.
Throughout the ordeal, Cdr Tomy was communicating with the race headquarters through satellite-based texting equipment, he said.
When asked if Cdr Tomy had taken any mental training ahead of the race, the former Navy officer said, "What more training does one need after having finished the same journey before?"
Ahead of the GGR flag-off from the coast of Les Sables dOlonne in France on July 1, there were survival workshops which Cdr Tomy underwent where the participants were taught about use of life-saving equipment, he said.
Cdr Tomy, a reconnaissance pilot with the Navy, also underwent training as part of his commissioning and on-the-job training which makes him a very strong person, Cdr Donde said.
His boat Thuriya was hit by a deadly storm, about 1,900 nautical miles from Perth, on Friday.
Indian Naval ship Satpura has been sent to bring the commander back to India.
The Australian Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra coordinated the rescue mission in cooperation with many agencies, including the Australian Defence Department and the Indian Navy.
