Tsunami Jewish Deaf Survivor
By Kenneth S. Rothschild
Imagine going down underwater and then when you came up to
surface, you find the world re-shaped? This is what happened to Naomi
Hayim, a Jewish Deaf dive master and marine biologist who was lucky to
escape the wrath of the major tsunami event on December 26, 2004 that
originated from the coast of Indonesia. The tsunami has claimed more than
150,000 lives and has affected many countries in the Indian Ocean.
Naomi is a member of the World Wide Dive and Sail organization owned by
Netherlander Frank van der Linde. She became deaf after a meningitis bout
in her infancy and grew up in London's Maida Vale area. Naomi was
fascinated with sea life since she was young. After graduating from Queen
Mary, University of London with a degree in marine and freshwater biology,
Naomi continued her pursuits for a few months by studying clown fish and
sea anemones at the Institute of Marine Biology in Eliat, Israel. She met
Frank at Koh Tao, Thailand and have worked together as a team leading
expeditions on the organization's 21-meter SY Sampai Jumpa yacht. This
1998-manufactured boat sails around nine islands in the Andaman Sea off
Thailand's western coast.
When the Indonesian earthquake caused the tsunami effect on December 26th,
Naomi and Frank were diving with 12 other people, including another Deaf
person, at Richelieu Rock which is north of the Surin Islands located
about 40 miles west of the Phang Nga province. The divers were swept under
the giant waves which created a whirlpool with strong currents. They lost
each other because of the poor visibility caused by the waves and
eventually found each other unharmed. They did not feel the force and
power of the tsunami wave as they were in the right time and place. The
group continued their trip with heavy hearts and continued with the diving
as it is still what it was before the disaster. When they were returning
to Phuket, they were instructed to stay out at sea for fear of aftershocks
and the Phuket port was closed for a while. In the picture that is with
this article, you will see boats pushed into land as a result of the
tsunami wave.
Naomi said that she was the only Jew on this trip and is lucky to be able
to continue diving.
The World Wide Dive and Sail do cater to the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing.
Their future trips are still planned as scheduled and can be checked out
at their website which is www.worldwidediveandsail.com.