As members of the Lakeba Medical Outreach Team, we spent our lives trying to save others, but out there, drifting for hours that felt like lifetimes, we could not save ourselves.
Charge Nurse Livinai Namami highlighted this in Parliament this morning, saying that as he looks at Parliament today, he sees light, warmth and life, but if he closes his eyes for just a second, he is instantly taken back to a few weeks ago, out in the middle of the cold, vast Lau waters.
Namami says he can still taste the salt, still feel the terrifying weight of the dark, and the crushing realization that they were completely helpless.
He says standing before everyone today is a miracle.
The Charge Nurse says they watched the sun go down, the waves get bigger, and in their hearts, they began to say their silent goodbyes to their children, spouses, and parents.
He says even when the darkness closed in on them, a quiet blanket of peace kept them from giving up.
Namami says today, he wants to say this clearly to everyone listening: they did not survive because they were strong, they survived because an entire nation fell to its knees.
He says to the citizens of Fiji here at home, the coastal villagers who walked the shores looking for them, and their families and friends weeping and praying across the globe—your cries reached heaven.
The Charge Nurse says when their bodies grew numb and they were too weak to hold on, it was the overwhelming spirit of everyone's prayers that kept their heads above water.
He says God answered those prayers through ordinary people who did extraordinary things and they owe their lives to the brave men and women of our national rescue teams, the Fiji Navy, the Fiji Police Force and our local heroes in Lau.
Namami says just when hope felt like a fading ember, the silhouette of the Lomaiviti Princess 12 broke through the horizon.
While addressing the Captain and the incredible crew of Lomaiviti Princess 12, Nemani says when their hands reached down into that water to pull them up, they were not just pulling bodies out of the sea, they were bringing mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons back from the dead.
The Charge Nurse says they gave them back their lives and will weep tears of gratitude for them until the day they die.
He also thanked the President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and every Member of Parliament for their tears, leadership, and for mobilizing every resource to find them.
Namami says they come back with broken spirits but renewed hearts, more committed than ever to serve the maritime communities of Lau and this nation Fiji.
