BAU: “I want to survive.”
That was uppermost in Laskar Kanan Michael Coccon Johen’s mind while he was drifting in South China Sea, hours after a free-fall parachute training exercise went wrong.
Michael, 27, was one of six navy special forces (Paskal) personnel who landed in the sea on Aug 12 after missing their designated landing site at Pulau Layang-Layang, off Sabah’s coast.
It happened during the drill’s second jump at 4.30pm, when a sudden change in weather conditions severely affected visibility.
“We were about 10km away from the island when we jumped from the helicopter. From 9,000 feet to 4,000 feet (2,743m to 1,219m), we were still moving towards the island.
“But from that point on, our parachutes stopped moving forward because the wind changed suddenly. So we landed in the sea at about 5pm,” Michael told the media at state Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Henry Harry Jinep’s service centre here yesterday.
Thanks to his training, he did not panic but waited for assistance from the navy’s safety vessels.
However, the vessels could not reach them because the waves were too high.
“After about an hour, I kicked off my shoes and retrieved the compass from the parachute to check the bearings to the island,” he said.
“I could see the island at a distance and decided to swim towards it. I could also see a lot of navy ships searching for us, but it was getting darker.”
Michael kept swimming but the waves were against him, pulling him away from the island.
At about 10pm, he saw a flare set off by a fellow commando to attract the attention of the search-and-rescue helicopters.
“My five colleagues were all rescued that night, the last one at about 11pm. I was the only one still in the sea.
“I could see a faint light from the island and that motivated me to keep going. I kept trying to reach the island until about 5am, but I didn’t seem to get closer.
“I realised I needed to rest. I tried to sleep but the waves kept crashing over my face. I must have swallowed a lot of seawater.
“Finally I covered my face with my hat and I was able to sleep until about 7am,” he said, adding that he was wearing a life jacket.
When he woke up, he could see a navy vessel to his right but it was still quite far away.
He decided to rest again and this time he was woken by the sound of the vessel, which was now closer to him.
“I started swimming towards the vessel. All I could think of was that I have a chance to be rescued. Finally the crew saw me and pulled me aboard.”
That was at 7.55am the following morning, after he had spent 15 hours in the sea.
He was brought to the hospital in Kota Kinabalu and discharged after two days.
Michael, from Kampung Bogak Sejinjang here, attributed his survival to his training and the prayers of his loved ones.
“What I was most afraid of was that the rescuers would not be able to find me, because it’s very difficult to search in the open sea,” he said.
“I also thought about my loved ones. Usually, before each jump, I will inform my mother and my wife, but this time I didn’t because of poor connectivity.”
He thanked the navy for rescuing all six personnel, adding that he would continue to make jumps after this incident.
Michael’s wife Law Lee Eing said she could not sleep the whole night after hearing the news that the team was missing.
“The next morning, I received a call that my husband was missing. Shortly after that, another call came saying that he had been rescued, which was such a relief,” she said.
Henry said Michael’s survival resulted from his determination, courage, mental strength, and commando training.
“I hope he will be a role model to the younger generation,” he said.
