LAGOS – Months after being rescued from an air-pocket in an Atlantic shipwreck, Nigerian cook Harrison Odjegba Okene has decided that he’s not cut out for life on the “outside” anymore.
“The first twenty four hours out were the hardest.” Okene said. “After you get used to living in freezing, pitch-black, air-pocket conditions, it’s hard to imagine going back to a pocket-less life of limitless air”.
In May, Okene was the sole survivor of the capsized “Jascon 4”, one of three tugboats pulling an oil tanker through Nigerian waters. After finding an air-pocket in a not-immediately life threatening cabin space, his goals while submerged rapidly shifted from surviving, to going on living, and eventually to living well.
“On the third day when they found me, my hand was out-stretched into the water as part of my morning calisthenics and grab-for-fish routine. How did I know it was morning down there? Well I guess I just assumed. It felt like it had been hours since one of those great midnight scream sessions I used to have.” Okene said. “That was just life in the air-pocket.”
In the post-rescue months, Okene has found it increasingly difficult to become used to societal norms, struggling to keep jobs and relationships intact.
“I went out on a limb in hiring him because he’s a hero now and we knew each other in school” explained Red Lobster night-manager Jeff Pandiak. “I made a mistake. He talks to the food more than I do, he doesn’t take feedback. And there’s nothing in the book about coaxing a line cook out of a walk-in freezer during a scream session.”
Though friends and fans are concerned and want to help him find a balance, Okene has begun to put a plan into action: “I bought a Thursday morning ticket on one of those big Italian ferries. I figure it’s only a matter of time until another one goes down.”
