‘Doesn’t talk, struggles to sleep’: Lone Air India crash survivor battles trauma, taking psychiatric help
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‘Doesn’t talk, struggles to sleep’: Lone Air India crash survivor battles trauma, taking psychiatric help
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of the June 12 Air India crash that killed 241 others on board and several others who were on ground, is reportedly struggling to cope up with the trauma of the harrowing day. He is now taking a psychiatrist’s help to find a way of coping with the traumatic experience, his cousin said. The London-bound Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner went down just seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12. Vishwas, seated in 11A near the emergency exit, was the only passenger who survived, with was his own brother, Ajay, being among the 241 others onboard who died. Another 19 people were killed on the ground.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh was the only one out of the 242 passengers of the ill-fated London-Ahmedabad flight who walked out of the crash alive, shocking the world.
He is now taking a psychiatrist’s help to find a way of coping with the traumatic experience, his cousin said, according to news agency PTI.
The London-bound Boeing 787-7 Dreamliner went down just seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12.
Vishwas, seated in 11A near the emergency exit, was the only passenger who survived, with was his own brother, Ajay, being among the 241 others onboard who died. Another 19 people were killed on the ground.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh devastated
The aftermath has left Vishwas emotionally devastated. Vishwas’s cousin said he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds it difficult to fall back asleep.
“Many people, including our relatives living abroad, call us to inquire about Vishwas’s well-being. But he does not talk to anyone. He is yet to overcome the mental trauma of the crash and the death of his brother,” PTI quoted his cousin Sunny as saying.
“He still wakes up in the middle of the night and finds it difficult to fall asleep again. We took him to a psychiatrist two days ago to find remedy. He has not made any plans yet to return to London because his treatment has just begun,” Sunny added.
Vishwas was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on June 17 – the same day his family received Ajay’s body after a DNA match. The brothers had been returning to London after visiting their family in Diu, part of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
In a video widely shared on social media, Vishwas was seen carrying his brother’s mortal remains on his shoulders to the cremation ground in Diu on June 18.
This was just one of the many videos of Vishwas post the crash that stunned the world. Some videos from the crash day showed Vishwas walking out of the tragedy site.
In another viral video taken just after the crash, Vishwas is seen walking toward an ambulance, away from the debris. Surviving that moment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vishwas at the hospital a day after the crash and enquired about his condition.
In an interview to Doordarshan after the Air India crash, Vishwas recounted the terrifying seconds before impact. “Luckily, the portion of the plane where I was seated fell on the ground floor of the [medical college] hostel premises after the plane crash-landed. When I saw that the door was broken, I told myself that I can try and get out. Eventually, I came out,” he had told reporters.