Sailor on the mend thanks to community
Former Indian seafarerMohankumar Mahesh Kumar is back in control of his future thanks to the generosity of Hedland community members.
The 27-year-old faced a bleak future after he lost his right foot - and therefore his family's source of income - in an accident aboard an iron ore carrier in Port Hedland in June.
Yet he can now start to rebuild his life with the help of more than $43,000 donated by concerned Pilbara residents.
Port Hedland Seafarers Centre manager and chaplain Alan Mower helped raise the money and this week flies to Mumbai to present it to Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar said he could not wait to catch up with the Seafarers chaplain and to use the money to pay his mortgage and start a hardware business.
"I have lots of debt (on my house) … so I would like to clear that, then I want to start … a small hardware shop and settle my life," he said by phone from India.
"I would also like to thank all the people from Australia … because of them I am in this present (positive) situation … otherwise I would have been struggling now … maybe I would have ended my life."
Mr Kumar's accident struck an immediate chord with not only Hedland residents but people around the world.
The 27-year-old had only just married wife Sruthy before putting to sea aboard the bulk carrier Julia N to earn money for their future.
Then, after six months' voyaging on the Julia N and as the vessel made ready on June 29 to depart Port Hedland with iron ore for China, Mr Kumar's life changed forever.
As the tug boats began to pull on the Julia N's mooring lines to pilot the vessel out of the harbour, Mr Kumar became tangled in the ropes and was dragged across the deck.
A quick-thinking friend seized him and saved Mr Kumar from being pulled overboard, but the force sliced off his leg below the right knee.
Fortescue Metals Group paramedics rushed to the scene within 10 minutes, before a helicopter airlifted Mr Kumar from the Julia N to South Hedland hospital.
However, the best surgeons could do was to tidy up the already amputated leg.
Hedland Seafarers manager Alan Mower and fellow chaplain Garry South were by Mr Kumar's hospital bed from the start.
As well as the shock of the accident, Mr Mower said the young Indian crewman was worried his new wife might leave him if her family thought he could no longer support her.
"We were so moved by the whole event that a young 27-year-old guy who … more than likely had been seen by his family as the bread winner (now) had his entire working life shattered to pieces," Mr Mower said.
The Seafarers started a fund for Mr Kumar, with Pilbara businesses and residents giving generously.
The Hedland Seafarers' Indian-origin staff members alone raised $4000.
"We were absolutely overwhelmed with the response … we had over 10,000 hits on our Facebook page to this (fund)," Mr Mower said.
After just over a week in Hedland hospital, Mr Kumar flew back to Mumbai, where he and his wife have been waiting since July for his prosthesis to arrive.
Recently, he has been finally starting to receive good news, after his parents were able to travel from Kerala to visit him for the first time last week. "They are still crying … but I am really happy now (to see them)," he said.
Mr Kumar said he also expected his prosthetic leg to be finally fitted last week - just in time for the September 15 ceremony in Mumbai, when Mr Mower and Mr South will present him with the donated money.
"The pain (in my leg) is coming down but still the pain is there," he said.
"(But) hopefully by the time Alan and Garry are here, I will be wearing the prosthetic … I am very eagerly waiting for seeing them."
