Fisherman recounts miraculously surviving 22 hours in Atlantic
THE bloated lifeless body of one of the missing fishermen was discovered, by other fishermen yesterday morning, at Hampton Court foreshore on the Essequibo Coast. The corpse is that of one of the four-member crew whose fishing boat sank Saturday afternoon in rough waters off the Suddie Sea Coast, while taking an outboard engine to rescue victims who were robbed by pirates on an East Coast Demerara vessel at Pomeroon River mouth last Friday afternoon.
Relatives of the drowned fisherman are expected to identify his badly decomposed remains. However, unconfirmed reports late yesterday indicate that the body is that of missing crew member Kumar Narine.  The two other missing fishermen are Shafeek Khan and Damodar Khemra.
Meanwhile, Ganeshwar Reddy, another member of the crew who survived some 22 hours in the raging waters of the Atlantic Ocean, was rescued by residents and fishermen Sunday afternoon, at Jibb foreshore, also on the Essequibo Coast.
Reddy thanked God to be alive and declared it is a miracle he survived, after drifting some 12 miles from where tragedy struck.
Two other fishermen are still missing.
In driving rain, high winds and a raging, turbulent Atlantic Ocean, Reddy had actually lost all hopes of living and was sure he would have had a watery grave.
But, speaking from his Suddie Hospital bed, he acknowledged that God was in the midst for him.
Recalling his horrifying experience, which lasted some 22 hours, Reddy, also known as Ganeshwar, said the ill-fated journey began at around 17:00 hrs Saturday, from the Meadow Bank Wharf, East Bank Demerara. He was headed to the Pomeroon River Mouth by way of the Atlantic Ocean.
The man, who started fishing at sea from the  age of 14, said four of them were in the boat in which they were taking an outboard engine to the one that was attacked by pirates off the Pomeroon River mouth on Friday.

HIGH SPIRITS
Reddy said the trip started well and all the men were in high spirits while talking about the pirate attack and losses suffered as they travelled in the Demerara River to the Atlantic Ocean.
He said the ocean was rough with high waves lashing against their craft but, as seasoned fishermen, they knew how to manoeuvre in such circumstances.
Reddy recalled that their difficulties began just off the Suddie Sea Coast when a storm erupted and the waves became furious, overturning the boat and throwing them into the murky waters of the raging Atlantic.
The fisherman, who has some 33 years experience at sea, said he struggled with the waves and refused to go under as he kept floating himself in the tall and powerful swellings.
Reddy said his other three friends held on to the floating boat as the waves threatened to throw them to the bottom of the ocean.
He said the heavy current in the water separated them quickly and, as he drifted away, an empty four-gallon bottle came his way and he held on to it for several hours to save his life.
The burly fisherman remembered the ocean becoming dark as night fell and the bottle he was holding on to started to sink because the cork came off and he had to let go of it and float himself to stay alive.
He said he was cold, hungry and tired and thought about his four children, wife and other relatives and three friends as death stared him in the face.
Reddy said he ingested a lot of salt water from the ocean and was in pain from bruises.
Also nicknamed ‘Smallie’, he said he washed ashore Sunday afternoon behind Jibb Village, some 12 miles from Suddie and was rescued after being seen  by a villager named Harry Kissoon, who was catching shrimps on the foreshore.
Reddy said, when he was taken out of the water by five men, he was not seeing and his entire body was blistered by the salt water. He was rushed to Charity Hospital by public-spirited citizens.  He was given medical attention at Charity, then transferred to Suddie Hospital and further to Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).