Tonga Man Says He Survived 27 Hours at Sea after Tsunami
2022-01-22
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A 57-year-old Tonga man survived a night in the ocean after a tsunami wave swept him out to sea last Saturday.
2The incident happened after the huge burst of a volcano in the island kingdom of Tonga.
3Lisala Folau told Tonga's BroadCom Broadcasting that he was painting his house last Saturday when his brother told him a tsunami was moving toward the small island of Atata.
4The island has a population of about 60.
5Folau is disabled and has difficulty walking.
6He said he climbed a tree to escape the first wave but when he got down, another big wave swept him away.
7"I could hear my son calling from land, but I didn't want to answer my son because I didn't want him to swim out to find me," said Folau.
8Folau was swept out to sea at about 7 p.m. local time.
9Then, he said he drifted or swam another eight hours to a second island with no one living on it before finally swimming again to the main island of Tongatapu.
10The experience lasted more than 27 hours and covered 7.5 kilometers.
11Folau said that he went underwater nine times.
12"On the eighth time I thought, the next time I go underwater that's it, because my arms were the only things that were keeping me above water," said Lisala Folau.
13He told Reuters, "So the ninth time I went under and came up and grabbed a log. And that's what kept me going."
14In an interview with Britain's Sky News, Folau said he was frightened when the waves took him from land into the sea.
15"What came into my mind when I was helpless at sea were two things," he said.
16He added, "One, that I still had faith in God. Two, is my family. And I only remember how my family will think, at that moment, 'Maybe he died.'"
17New Zealand's Acting High Commissioner Peter Lund said Tongan officials told him last Sunday that a man was missing from Atata island.
18"And they weren't very optimistic about it," Lund said.
19There was even a video recorded by Folau's son Koli Folau, who went searching for his father.
20The video shows that almost nothing was left standing on the island other than a church, where many of the villagers took shelter.
21"It's one of these miracles that happens," Lund told the Associated Press.
22The story of Folau's survival went viral among Tongan groups on Facebook and other social media.
23"Real life Aquaman," said one post on Facebook, referring to the comic book and movie character.
24When asked if he knew who Aquaman was, Folau said he did not.
25I'm Greg Stachel.
1A 57-year-old Tonga man survived a night in the ocean after a tsunami wave swept him out to sea last Saturday. 2The incident happened after the huge burst of a volcano in the island kingdom of Tonga. 3Lisala Folau told Tonga's BroadCom Broadcasting that he was painting his house last Saturday when his brother told him a tsunami was moving toward the small island of Atata. The island has a population of about 60. 4Folau is disabled and has difficulty walking. He said he climbed a tree to escape the first wave but when he got down, another big wave swept him away. 5"I could hear my son calling from land, but I didn't want to answer my son because I didn't want him to swim out to find me," said Folau. 6Folau was swept out to sea at about 7 p.m. local time. Then, he said he drifted or swam another eight hours to a second island with no one living on it before finally swimming again to the main island of Tongatapu. The experience lasted more than 27 hours and covered 7.5 kilometers. 7Folau said that he went underwater nine times. "On the eighth time I thought, the next time I go underwater that's it, because my arms were the only things that were keeping me above water," said Lisala Folau. 8He told Reuters, "So the ninth time I went under and came up and grabbed a log. And that's what kept me going." 9In an interview with Britain's Sky News, Folau said he was frightened when the waves took him from land into the sea. "What came into my mind when I was helpless at sea were two things," he said. He added, "One, that I still had faith in God. Two, is my family. And I only remember how my family will think, at that moment, 'Maybe he died.'" 10New Zealand's Acting High Commissioner Peter Lund said Tongan officials told him last Sunday that a man was missing from Atata island. "And they weren't very optimistic about it," Lund said. 11There was even a video recorded by Folau's son Koli Folau, who went searching for his father. The video shows that almost nothing was left standing on the island other than a church, where many of the villagers took shelter. 12"It's one of these miracles that happens," Lund told the Associated Press. 13The story of Folau's survival went viral among Tongan groups on Facebook and other social media. "Real life Aquaman," said one post on Facebook, referring to the comic book and movie character. 14When asked if he knew who Aquaman was, Folau said he did not. 15I'm Greg Stachel. 16Nick Perry of the Associated Press and Jill Gralow of Reuters reported this story. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English. 17________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19sweep -v. to remove someone or something from an area 20drift -v. to slowly move from one place to another, especially on water, with little direction 21log -n. the main part of a tree 22interview -n. a meeting in which one person asks questions and another answers them, especially for news reporting 23optimistic -adj. showing hope for the future 24miracle -n. an unusual or wonderful event believed to be caused by the power of God 25We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.