(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- To the world, he may be seen as extraordinarily lucky. But to 40-year-old Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of the Air India crash on June 12, survival has come at an unbearable cost.

Vishwas, an Indian-origin British national, was the only person to walk away alive after Flight AI171, a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner, crashed seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The crash claimed the lives of 241 passengers and crew members on board and 19 people on the ground. Among the dead was his younger brother, Ajay.

Vishwas was seated on 11A, near the emergency door on the left side of the aircraft. That detail, seemingly insignificant at the time of boarding, likely saved his life.

“Luckily, the portion of the plane where I was seated fell on the ground floor of the medical college hostel premises after the crash-landing,” he recalled in an interview to Doordarshan.“When I saw that the door was broken, I told myself that I can try and get out. Eventually, I came out.”

Moments later, a video captured by a bystander showed a dazed Vishwas walking barefoot and bloodied toward an ambulance, away from the burning wreckage. But escaping the debris was only the beginning.

Read Also Air India Dreamliner Crash: Second-by-Second Timeline Fuel Cutoff, Pilot Confusion Led to Deadly Air India 787 Crash: Probe

Back in Diu, where the brothers had travelled to visit family before returning to London, grief settled like a permanent guest. On June 17, Vishwas was discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. That same day, his brother's remains, identified through DNA matching, were handed over to the family. The next morning, a viral video showed Vishwas carrying Ajay's body on his shoulders to the cremation ground.

Since then, life has stood still.

“He does not speak to anyone. He doesn't even take calls from our relatives abroad,” said Sunny, his cousin.“He wakes up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. He's still haunted by the crash and Ajay's death.”

With no immediate plans to return to the UK, Vishwas remains in India and has begun psychiatric treatment.“We took him to a psychiatrist two days ago. His therapy has just started,” Sunny said.

The trauma is all-consuming. For a man who emerged from mangled metal and flames, the invisible wounds have proven much harder to escape.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Vishwas in the hospital a day after the crash and enquired about his condition. But while the nation's attention may soon shift elsewhere, Vishwas's life remains suspended between memory and mourning.

He survived what few ever do. But healing - if it comes - will take far longer than the fall from the sky.

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