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MANILA, Philippines?The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) Thursday thanked the Taiwanese air force for helping in the rescue of a Filipino seaman who was feared to have suffered a heart attack on a Hong Kong-registered freighter that was plying the waters of southern Taiwan last month.
The MV Harotamou was in the waters off southern Taiwan when its second engineer, Rolet Formacil, 49, suddenly collapsed and complained of severe back pain and paralysis while carrying tools and implements.
The ship?s captain, fearing Formacil had a heart attack, radioed Taiwan authorities for emergency medical assistance and the Taiwanese air force sent the Chiayi Airbase Seagull Rescue Team.
MECO resident representative Antonio Basilio, in a statement, said the rescue team performed a ?daring? night-time operation to airlift Formacil.
The seaman was brought to the Kaohsiung Veterans Hospital for treatment. He was diagnosed with a fractured back. He was discharged after his condition stabilized and was assisted by MECO in traveling back to the Philippines on March 2 for further medical treatment.
In his letter to Gen. Lei Yu-chi, commanding general of the Taiwan Air Force Command Headquarters, Basilio said the rescue team?s timely response proved crucial.
?Your immediate response to send a helicopter to airlift Mr. Formacil from the vessel saved his life and prevented further damage to his back,? Basilio wrote.
The vessel, which was travelling near the town of Hengchun in southern Taiwan, was en route from Nagoya, Japan to Singapore for bunkering when the incident took place.
