THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After spending close to 40 hours in a crevice when he was trapped in a fault line of the Koormbachi hillock in Kerala's Palakkad on February 7 and rescued by the army officials two days later, 23-year-old Babu on Friday returned home to a hero's welcome.
For the past two days he was at the state-run hospital near Palakkad and on Friday morning he was seen off from the hospital by the district collector, police officials and a huge crowd of onlookers.
Reaching home he told the media that he wished to join the Air Force as he had earlier worked as a civilian staff in an Air Force unit, here.
"I believed in myself and I knew I would be rescued, so I did not fear. It was hot at times and at times it became cold. On Wednesday morning, I heard the sound of the Army team who called from the top and said not to worry," said Babu. His mother said she will not allow Babu to go trekking again, which was dismissed with a smile by him.
Babu, along with three of his friends on Monday had climbed the hillock and while coming down, he slipped and fell into the fault line.
After failing to rescue him, his friends rushed downhill and alerted the locals and soon came the rescue team, but they too failed.
And on Tuesday, an Indian Coast Guard's Chetak helicopter attempted the rescue operations, but, due to inclement weather, was unable to complete the mission and it was the Army team which finally rescued him.