FIFTY-YEAR-OLD fisherman Mohan Singh, who suffered life threatening burns at the hands of pirates in a March 18 high seas attack that claimed the life of marine Captain Vasdeo Persaud in Venezuelan waters, has returned home after spending just over two months recuperating in Venezuela.
Singh, also known as ‘Peppe’, of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, who turned 50 on the day he left Venezuela to return, arrived in Guyana on May 22, well recovered, thanking and praising God that he has been able to see his silver jubilee birth anniversary and can look forward to spending Father’s Day 2010 in the comfort of his home and the warmth and affection of a caring and supportive family.
It was unspeakable joy, two weeks ago, when Singh came back, accompanied by his wife, Faziela, their daughter and three-year-old grandson, to be reunited with his mother, siblings and other relatives and villagers.
Following the misfortune, Singh was hospitalised in Bolivia Hospital in Puerto Das, Venezuela and, on being discharged, was temporarily accommodated at a private home in that country.
His wife Faziela and the two other family members travelled to Venezuela soon after and spent the next few weeks taking care of him.
Faziela recalled that her husband suffered third degree burns on both legs and  they feared he would lose them.
His elderly mother, Nazimoon Omar, declared that his body had been cooked from the hip down and the flesh had started to rot. He could only tremble but not even eat.
But God and the people in Venezuela have been good to her son, too, so things worked out well for him.
Recounting the harrowing experience, Singh said it happened about 11:00 h on Thursday, March 18, when pirates sailed alongside their vessel and demanded that they turn it over to them. When they failed to comply, the attackers torched the craft, forcing them to jump overboard in the dangerously choppy waters.
In the ordeal, the captain Persaud perished but the badly burnt Singh and the two other crew members managed to swim some distance and hold on to a lifebuoy until they were rescued by a passing Venezuelan vessel. And taken to the ‘Punta Barima, a medical clinic in the ocean, where he received initial treatment.
The following day, he was conveyed by boat to Venezuelan by Police who delivered him to the hospital in Puerto Das, after a journey which began around 05:00h that morning and took more than 24 hours, during which he experienced pain non-stop, Singh remembered.
With the help of relatives and friends in Venezuela, after leaving hospital, he was afforded home care until the arrival of his wife and daughter, their trip there financed by owner of the fishing vessel, Mr. Deodat Bissoon also known as ‘Uncle Waddie’.
Others comprising in the four-member fishing crew who left  Guyana aboard the vessel ‘Sudesh, on Wednesday, March 17,  were Captain Persaud called ‘Dave’, of Parika Backdam; Ricky Ranju nicknamed ‘Keel Man’ of Hague and an 18-year old Amerindian of Hubu Backdam who sailed for the first time without his name being ascertained.
The latter two, who suffered no serious burns, returned to Guyana a few weeks following the disaster and are, reportedly, back at work with Bissoon.
The badly burnt Persaud went under water before he could have been rescued. His body was recovered a few days later and buried in Venezuela but his wife, Pulmattie Grantam and their children, Davin, 15 and Michael, 11, also, of Parika, are trying to cope and come to terms with the loss.