KASARAGOD: “My friend was in danger and I needed to do everything I could to save him.”
After all, it was the life of M Sasi’s buddy of over 30 years that was on the line. In an act of ‘high’ bravery, he held on to P Babu, who blacked out atop a 70-feet-tall coconut tree that he intended to harvest. And, all this while Babu hung upside down for over two hours — till help arrived.
It was a two-three hour task, harvesting around 30 trees, that the two coconut pickers had taken up on Tuesday morning at a farm in Kappalli, near Malakallu. The duo, both aged 55, was almost done with their labour, with six trees left, when Babu, who was cleaning the crown of a tree after plucking coconuts, blacked out all of a sudden.
“I have passed out several times, but always on the ground. This time it happened atop a tree,” recalled Babu, from Perinkaya village in Kasaragod. Having lost consciousness, he swooned forward with his two feet still caught in the metal climber. Within seconds, he was hanging upside down from the tree.
The workers collecting harvested coconuts below raised an alarm. “I was plucking coconuts four trees away. I climbed down and rushed to inspect the situation, only to find my friend hanging upside down from the tree,” said Sasi.
He hurried to get his climber, hooked it on to the tree Babu was hanging from and started making his way up. Babu had regained conscious by then. But he was hanging upside down, and the situation was still precarious. Sasi got hold of Babu’s towel, which climbers use as headgear, and bound it to his to fashion a rope, which he used to tie Babu’s legs to the tree. After descending to get hold of a coir rope, Sasi climbed back up to bind Babu further to the tree from his hip.
With his feet still caught in the climber, Babu was wriggling in pain.
I am alive all because of Sasi: Babu
After securing Babu, Sasi freed his feet. “I placed his head on my shoulder and started conversing with him,” recounted Sasi. Over the following hours, Sasi was constantly making sure that Babu stayed conscious. Turning a man upright on a coconut tree is impossible without additional help, said Sasi, a seasoned climber.
Meanwhile, residents informed the fire and rescue station in Kuttikol, some 20km away. But their vehicle struggled to make it up the hilly terrain. By the time officers finally arrived at the spot in a second vehicle, over two hours had passed.
Fire officer Neethumohan climbed the tree while his colleagues held out a safety net below. Using a pully, the team lowered Babu down safely.
Local residents praised Sasi’s bravery, appreciating his efforts at not giving up on his friend.
“I am alive all because of Sasi. Except for the mild pain in my feet, I am absolutely fine,” said Babu. “I just wanted to save my friend. The difficulty of my effort did not sink in until onlookers described how I managed it. We both made it out alive,” said Sasi.