News and UpdatesIn the NewsDrama in real life: Back from the dead

Drama in real life: Back from the dead

-

- Advertisment -spot_img

What started out as an ordinary scuba diving trip last Monday, Jan. 29 in the internationally-renowned Apo Island in southern Negros Oriental turned out to be one that dive instructor Matthew LaFrance and his student, Swayam Rawal, would remember for as long as they live.

“It was a normal day,” LaFrance recalled. “We had a couple of dives and some lunch to prepare us for our third dive,” he said.

Rock Point West, the third dive site, is not your ordinary dive site, as many divers have been known to have been swept away by strong currents. “When I do that dive, I usually drift out and get picked up,” LaFrance said.

This wasn’t the first time for LaFrance, 41, who knew almost everyone on that boat. He, after all, has been a resident of Dauin town for over two years now. LaFrance left his desk-bound job in Toronto, Canada, to become a dive instructor in Negros Oriental. He and his wife Irene have two kids, and the third one is due in a month.

Rawal, 30, a US citizen, came to the Philippines to learn scuba diving.

The duo hit the water, and went down at 1:08 p.m. Thirty-five minutes into the dive, LaFrance could see that the current had brought them to the southern end of the island. “I knew we were going fast so I sent up my signal marker buoy so the boat could see how quickly we were moving and they could watch and follow us,” he said.

They surfaced 11 minutes later to complete the 46-minute dive, far away from their boat.

“No big deal, it’s always the way it is: you wait there a bit, and wait for the boat to get organized so they could come and get you,” he remembers telling himself. While he and his buddy could see the boat, they found themselves between the boat and the afternoon sun, probably making it difficult for the boatmen to see them.

They waited a little while more, blowing their whistle to get the boatmen’s attention as they continued to drift farther out. By that time, Rawal inflated his signal marker buoy, which LaFrance had given him earlier in the event they got separated during the dive.

“So we got two signal markers up, and blowing the whistle, and yelling and waving.”

Back in the boat, the boat crew and the other passengers of the M/B Rosefel 2 were starting to worry. A passenger on board, who identified himself as R. Patrick Reyes, posted a comment in an online newspaper article, saying they were waiting for the two to resurface, and were looking for their emergency floaters. “Some divers went down to look for them,” he said.

After waiting for an hour on the surface, while drifting farther southwest by the second, LaFrance and Rawal could see the boat move. “Oh, finally, they’re coming!” LaFrance thought.

But the boat was going the opposite direction. “What are they doing? They’re looking in the wrong spot! I told them I was going to drift, and I told them pick us up out there!” I even made a joke about it by saying, ‘Come and get us or we’re going to end up in Mindanao!'”

Two hours passed, and the boat passengers and crew couldn’t find them anywhere, leading them to suspect that the two were swept away by the underwater current.

“We looked for them, and we informed the Coast Guard. They couldn’t be found in the area where they were supposed to resurface. They drifted far, along the nautical route going to Siquijor,” Reyes said.

After a two-hour search, the M/B Rosefel 2 headed back for the island. “Both of us noted what time it was: 4:21 pm,” LaFrance said. “At that point, I turned to my guest diver, and said, ‘OK, this urgent situation has now turned into a serious emergency. Due to the strong current, we couldn’t swim back to Apo Island but we have to try and swim towards the big island, Negros Oriental.'”

“I had to get my buddy to agree to my plan. We were two guys out in the middle of the ocean. We needed to be on the same team. I told him it was going to take a long time for us to reach the big island because it’s probably 12 nautical miles, and we could be swimming all night. And he said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s the right thing to do’.”

So they dropped their weight belts on the ocean floor, and tethered themselves together to avoid being separated. “I told my buddy, ‘Here’s the compass, here’s our direction: we go north. No matter what, we go north’.”

Unknown to LaFrance and Rawal, Philippine Coast Guard-Dumaguete Station Commander Lt. Junior Grade Donna Liza Ramacho, had also ordered the Coast Guard station command in Apo Island, as well as other units, to launch a search operation. But they, too, had to temporarily call it off when it got dark.

By that time, it was 6:20 pm, and LaFrance and Rawal found themselves in total darkness. “I tell you, it may be a beautiful sunset but boy, watching the sunset in that situation, watching the light go away is a horrible feeling.”

While swimming, LaFrance and Rawal tried to keep each other sane and calm. “We managed to stay good most of the time. The hardest part was when thoughts of my children would get in my mind, putting me very close to the edge. But we just kept on swimming because…what else were we going to do? We can’t do nothing, so we swam. And we swam.”

It was starting to get cold but they managed to stave it off between the kicking and exercising and the adrenalin. But at 8:30 pm, it started to get really cold. “I looked in Swayam’s eyes, and I could tell we were getting close to not being able to remain calm anymore.”

By 9 pm or about eight hours in the water, LaFrance remembers telling Rawal, “‘Hey, are those lights coming this way?’ I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t see that well, but he had contact lens, and he said, ‘I think that’s really far away’. I said, ‘Are you sure? Because I think I can also hear an engine!’ Swayam said, ‘You’re right! I can hear an engine and it’s coming towards us!'”

The M/V Fortune Gold, a 74-meter cargo vessel, was passing south of Negros Oriental on its way to Iloilo from Iligan City.

“We started making lots of noise, lots of noise! But the boat went by us. At that point, I said, ‘We’re screwed!'”

But Rawal kept yelling. “He kept yelling, he kept yelling. And then he said, ‘I think they’re stopping! I think they’re turning!'”

And then up high on the boat, a big spotlight came on. “They were looking for us! The spotlight turned around a little but they couldn’t see us. A couple of times the light hit us but then the light would move on, and then after about 25 minutes of searching, the light spotted us again.” And the spotlight stayed on them.

“We were yelling, ‘Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh!’ and we swam so hard towards the boat. I never had that much energy in my life. The adrenalin was just wicked-pumping!” LaFrance said.

“We reached the boat, we got up the ladder, and was that ever a good feeling!” It was 9:50 p.m. “I asked, ‘You guys got water?’ I was so thirsty I must have consumed five liters in an hour,” LaFrance said. The boat had Internet access so LaFrance could look up some numbers and contact people to let them know they had been rescued.

Capt. Ricarte Hibalay, skipper of the M/V Fortune Gold, said the exact location where the two divers were found was 11.8 nautical miles (21 kilometers) southwest of Apo Island.

He also gave the two rescued divers dry clothes, noodles, and a place to sleep, until they got to the Dumaguete port around 2:45 a.m. of Jan. 30.

The incident has not scared LaFrance from doing more scuba diving. “I’ve got kids so I’m not thinking about retirement. I’ve got to put them through school!”

“At least we’re back — back from the dead!”

(Back to MetroPost HOME PAGE)


 

 

Latest news

City’s 2025 budget still hanging

    “It will not happen again. We made the mistake before. We will not make the same mistake again.” This was...

Chinese spy nabbed in Dumaguete

    The National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines presented in Manila Thursday an alleged Chinese...

Cause for concern

    The capture of a suspected Chinese spy last week right here in Dumaguete City continues to be the talk...

5 dolphins die in stranding

    Five dolphins died in Bais City, following a mass stranding in Bais Bay, Negros Oriental. Authorities suspect the dolphins died...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

2000 Canlaon evacuees to get TUPAD aid

    More than 2,000 displaced residents from Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, have been identified as beneficiaries of the government’s Tulong...

Comelec to hold candidates’ fora

    The Commission on Elections is organizing a forum for Negros Oriental candidates in the May 12 national and local...

Must read

City’s 2025 budget still hanging

    “It will not happen again. We made the mistake...

Chinese spy nabbed in Dumaguete

    The National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you