Ex-Navy officer rescued from Indian Ocean has a message for Kerala man rescued from hill

Abhilash Tomy (L) was rescued from southern Indian Ocean in 2018. R Babu was rescued from Malampuzha mountain on Wednesday. (Image credit: @abhilashtomy, @IaSouthern/Twitter)

After the daring rescue of a trekker from Kerala who was stuck on a mountain cleft without food and water for two days, former Navy officer Abhilash Tomy hoped that the incident would not deter 23-year-old R Babu from having more adventures.

Tomy, a seasoned sailor and naval pilot, was himself stranded in southern Indian Ocean in 2018 during a historic Golden Globe Race -- an enormously challenging solo and non-stop circumnavigation race that bars the use of modern technology.

He had also suffered severe back injury after the mast of his boat Thuriya broke in extremely rough weather and sea conditions, with wind speeds of 130 kmph and 10 metre high waves.

Tomy was rescued after 70 hours by a French vessel and later had to under go a surgery.

But, he isn't one to give up easily. Tomy, the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe solo and unassisted in a sail yacht, intends to give another shot at the Golden Globe Race in 2022. He even quit Navy to pursue his dreams.

Read more: Watch: Incredible rescue of man trapped on Kerala hill without food, water for 2 days

On Wednesday, after Babu was rescued by a team of Army personnel from in a cleft in Malampuzha mountain in Kerala's Palakkad district, Tomy tweeted: "Hope this doesn’t stop him or others from adventures."

Well done there. Hope this doesn’t stop him or others from adventures. pic.twitter.com/YybwAg1MRk

— Abhilash Tomy (@abhilashtomy) February 9, 2022

Army officers said that they crawled four hours to reach the trekker R Babu. He was given food and water and then pulled out of the cleft in the Malampuzha mountain face in which he had slipped into on Monday.

According to locals, Babu and two others had decided to climb to the top of Cherad hill but while others abandoned the effort halfway, Babu continued to climb to the top. After reaching there, however, he slipped and fell and got trapped between rocks on the mountain face, locals said.