Disabled man stays alone in Indian village abandoned after tsunami

Published: 2005-01-03

PUTHOOR-MANDAIKADU, India (CNS) -- A 70-year-old, one-legged man spent New Year's Day inside his tsunami-ravaged home, separated from his wife and children. Silvaikurisu Christopher was the only remaining inhabitant of a 10-mile stretch of beach about 20 miles east of Nagercoil, near the southern tip of India in Tamil Nadu state, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. All others in his village, including his family, went to relief camps after tsunamis hit Dec. 26. The waves killed 15 people in the village. Walking with crutches along the sand, Christopher said his family members and neighbors pleaded with him to join them as they fled to safety, but he told them he wished to stay on the beach. "I'm an old man. I have spent my whole life on the sea. I don't fear the sea. I have survived violent seas several times," he said. "But this was different," he added.

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