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- A real-life Aquaman has been hailed for surviving 27 hours at sea after Saturday's devastating tsunami struck Tonga, killing at least three people.
- The 57-year-old Tongan man, Lisala Folau, said he went under nine times before latching onto a log and making it to safety.
- Folau was swept out to sea at around 19:00 on Saturday and reached the shore 27 hours later on Sunday.
A 57-year-old Tongan man being hailed a real-life Aquaman for surviving 27 hours at sea after Saturday's devastating tsunami struck his island said he went under nine times before latching onto a log and making it to safety.
"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, who is disabled and cannot walk properly, speaking to Reuters from Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa.
"So the ninth time I went under and came up and grabbed a log. And that's what kept me going."
Lisala Folau, a 57-year-old Tongan man, said he swam around 27 hours after getting swept out to sea during the recent devastating tsunami https://t.co/7UtwLDWN03 pic.twitter.com/WZ8YNfKLMV
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 21, 2022
The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano killed at least three people and sent tsunami waves rolling across the Tongan archipelago, damaging villages and resorts and knocking out communications for the nation's 105 000 people.
Folau, who lived on the isolated island of Atata, with a population of about 60 people, was swept out to sea at around 19:00 on Saturday.
He had climbed a tree to escape a first wave but when he got down, another big wave swept him out.
A 57-year-old man with walking difficulties got swept to sea by the tsunami over the weekend on his home island of Atata.
— John Pompliano (@JohnPompliano) January 20, 2022
Lisala Folau swam/floated 8 miles over 27 hours to the main island of Tongatapu.
Real-Life Aquaman ?????? pic.twitter.com/TQ2rJsMBwm
Folau said:
Folau said he slowly managed to swim 7.5 km to the main island of Tongatapu, reaching the shore 27 hours later at about 22:00 on Sunday.
His heroics have gone viral on social media, with one Facebook post calling him a "real life Aquaman", referring to the comic book and film character.
When asked if he knew who Aquaman was, Flolau said he didn't yet.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the events.
Atata, about 8km northwest of Nuku'alofa, or a 30-minute boat ride, has been almost entirely destroyed in the tsunami that hit the islands.
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