Son ignored, 'need wife's help for shower': Sole survivor of Air India crash struggles with unbearable trauma

The sole survivor of the June 12 Air India crash - Ramesh - was on seat 11a, adjacent to emergency exit, of the Gatwick-bound plane that crashed in Ahmedabad

Not one of the 241 people, including his own brother, he was flying with survived. He did. But what the world deems as a miracle is now a nightmare for Viswashkumar Ramesh - the sole survivor of the June 12 Air India plane crash - as he struggles to deal with the trauma and the loss of his sibling in the same tragedy.

Vishwaskumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, breaks down as he attends the cremation of his deceased brother Ajay(PTI/File)

Ramesh was seated on 11A, adjacent to the emergency exit of the Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner plane that crashed shortly after takeoff on June 12 in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.

While Ramesh managed to jump out of the aircraft - operating under callsign AI171 - his brother, Ajaykumar, who was on another seat, died after the plane crashed into a medical hostel building.

Having lost his brother, gained unbearable trauma and consequently lost business, it has been a massive struggle for Ramesh since the crash to get his life back to normalcy, he conveyed recently in a Sky News interview.

‘Very broke down’

Months on, Ramesh - described as faltered, stumbled and lapsing into silence by the interviewer - opened up about the impact the Air India plane crash left on him and his family. He and his wife live in Leicester with their four-year-old son, Divang.

"It's very painful talking about the plane," Sky News quoted him as saying.

Watch | Ramesh walking away as crashed plane turns into fireball

Asked if he can speak about what happened on board the ill-fated aircraft, he fell silent.

From the hospital bed just after the crash, Ramesh had told DD India that there were bodies “all around” him when he stood up after the aircraft plummeted.

In hospital, he was seeking help to find his brother.

On being asked how his life is now, Ramesh said the crash has left him feeling "very broke down", adding that it is no different for the rest of his family.

Ramesh does not leave the house, instead sits alone in his bedroom, doing "nothing".

"I just think about my brother… For me, he was everything," the report quoted him as saying.

‘Not talking properly with son’

Apart from the unendurable mental trauma, Ramesh said he is still going through physical discomfort, dealing with knee, shoulder and back pain, along with burns to his left arm. His wife has to help him shower, he said.

Asked by the interviewer how his son has been since the tragedy happened, Ramesh responded saying Divang is "okay" but also that he is “not talking properly” with his son.

"Does he come to your room?" the interviewer asked. He shook his head.

Ramesh was joined by Leicester community leader Sanjiv Patel and his adviser and spokesperson Radd Seiger for support as he spoke for the interview.

They said Air India has offered Ramesh an interim payment of £21,500 (roughly ₹21,91,731)- a one-off sum given to a claimant before the end of a personal injury claim.

'Need more than just money': An appeal to Air India

Seiger and Patel said there are endless things he needs to get his life back on track but that it starts with "practical things" such as financial support.

Ramesh and his brother Ajaykumar used "all their savings" to set up a fishing business in India, which saw them frequently flying there together from the UK.

The business has taken a massive hit since the crash and stopped, leaving Ramesh's extended family in both the UK and India with no income, according to Patel.

A spokesperson for Tata Group, Air India's parent company, said that Ramesh had accepted the payment and that it had been transferred to him, according to the report. But the adviser says money is not enough.

The amount “doesn't even touch the sides” when compared to everything Ramesh needs while he is unable to work or leave his house, according to Seiger. The list of needs includes help with transporting his son to school, food, medical and psychiatric support.

They also want Air India's chief executive Campbell Wilson to meet him, his family and the families of other victims in the crash, to hear about their struggles and "talk as humans".

An Air India spokesperson, meanwhile, acknowledged that they are conscious of their responsibility to provide Ramesh with the required support.

“We are deeply conscious of our responsibility to provide Mr Ramesh with support through what must have been an unimaginable period. Care for him - and indeed all families affected by the tragedy - remains our absolute priority,” the report quoted the spokesperson.

“Senior leaders from across Tata Group continue to visit families to express their deepest condolences. An offer has been made to Mr Ramesh's representatives to arrange such a meeting, we will continue to reach out and we very much hope to receive a positive response,” the spokesperson added.

Along with the 241 of the 242 people on board, the plane crash on June 12 killed 19 others on ground.