Clinging to life: 75-year-old survives 7 hours, stuck in canoe on Alappuzha backwaters
Rajappan, a seventy-five-year-old man, survived seven hours clinging to mangrove branches in fierce Kaithappuzha backwater currents after losing his canoe, later stating, 'I had faith these waters wouldn't betray me.'
Rajappan, a seventy-five-year-old man, survived seven hours clinging to mangrove branches in fierce Kaithappuzha backwater currents after losing his canoe, later stating, 'I had faith these waters wouldn't betray me.'
Rajappan, a seventy-five-year-old man, survived seven hours clinging to mangrove branches in fierce Kaithappuzha backwater currents after losing his canoe, later stating, 'I had faith these waters wouldn't betray me.'
Aroor: In a miraculous escape, a 75-year-old man cheated death after being caught in fierce currents and dense aquatic weeds in the Kaithappuzha backwaters.
Braving pitch darkness and biting cold, Rajappan, a resident of Vadakke Peedikaparambil in Arookkutty, held fast to the overhanging branches of mangroves for nearly seven hours to survive the ordeal.
On Thursday around 8 pm, Rajappan had set out in his small canoe toward the Vettukadavu area to untie his stake nets. When he failed to return late into the night, his worried family and neighbours began searching for him. Alerted by the locals, personnel from the Arookkutty police station and the Aroor Fire and Rescue Services rushed to the scene. However, a thick carpet of aquatic weeds stretching for kilometres, coupled with a fierce low tide, prevented rescue boats from launching into the backwaters.
As midnight passed without any trace of Rajappan or his canoe, anxiety deepened among both locals and rescuers. Fellow fishermen then split into groups to scour the waterways.
Meanwhile, overpowered by the relentless current, Rajappan had lost control of his canoe and drifted toward a dense patch of mangroves near Kundekkadavu.
Fighting off exhaustion, cold, and darkness, he clung tightly to the mangrove branches for hours, waiting for the currents to subside. Around 3 am, summoning his remaining strength, he carefully paddled his way to the safety of a house along the waterfront.
“I have known Kaithappuzha like the back of my hand since childhood; I had faith these waters wouldn't betray me,” Rajappan said after his miraculous survival. His safe return has brought immense relief to his wife, Kunjumani, and their children.