# 'Surviving Became the Harshest Punishment': The Pain of Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the Lone AI-171 Crash Survivor

> The Air India AI-171 crash killed 260 people, and Vishwas Kumar Ramesh was the only person to walk out alive from the Boeing 787 wreckage. A year on, he says that simply surviving was never the end of his suffering.

**Category:** Gujarat · **Published:** 2026-06-12 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/gujarat/bacha-jana-hi-sabase-bari-saza-bana-gai-ai-171-hadase-ke-ikalaute-jivita-yatri-v-111

To the world, Vishwas Kumar Ramesh became the 'miracle man' of the Air India AI-171 crash, because he was the only person who came out of the Boeing 787 wreckage alive, while 260 people lost their lives in that disaster. But a year after the tragedy, Vishwas Kumar says that surviving was never the end of his troubles. He may be seen as the luckiest of all, yet he himself is still struggling to come to terms with the terrible shock.

## Survived the AI-171 Crash, but the Mental Wounds Remain Open

In a statement on the first anniversary of the crash, Vishwas Kumar said, "People only see that I survived, but they don't always see the battles that go on behind closed doors. I still have to deal with sleeplessness, anxiety and painful memories. Even a year later, I am trying to rebuild my life and to help my family in every way I can."

## Vishwas Lost His Brother in the Crash

On 12 June, 2025, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that took off from Ahmedabad airport bound for London's Gatwick airport crashed into the BJ Medical College campus just 32 seconds after take-off. In the disaster, 241 of the 242 people on board the aircraft and 19 people on the ground were killed. Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, a British citizen of Indian origin, survived with injuries, but his brother Ajay, who was seated elsewhere on the plane, could not be saved.

## 'Merely Staying Alive Is Not the Whole Story'

He said, "I am grateful to be alive, but simply staying alive is not the whole story. What I have endured since then has been so difficult that it cannot be put into words." These words reflect the deep emotional toll on the 40-year-old Vishwas, who was suddenly thrust into the spotlight as the sole surviving passenger of one of India's most horrific air disasters.

## 'I Was Terrified Seeing Bodies All Around'

Soon after the crash, images of Vishwas Kumar, bloodied and limping, spread across television screens and social media. Speaking from his hospital bed a few hours later, he described how he opened his eyes amid the debris and bodies and then somehow made his way to a safe spot. He recounted, "When I came to, there were bodies all around me. I was terrified. I got up and ran."

## A Year On, Vishwas Still Battles Sleeplessness and Memories

The crash claimed the life of his brother Ajay Kumar Ramesh, who was travelling back to London with him after visiting family in India. In several interviews over the past year, Kumar has mentioned this again and again, calling it the deepest wound left by the tragedy. The scenes of the crash site, his miraculous escape and the horrific memory of his brother's death still haunt him. He said that while the physical injuries healed, recovering from the emotional wounds proved far harder.

## His Brother's Death, Lost Savings and Now Loneliness

Friends and family members have described how hard it has been for Kumar to cope with the recurring memories of the crash, with the sleeplessness, and with trying to readjust to life after an event that killed almost everyone around him. The disaster also brought financial hardship. According to earlier information, Vishwas Kumar and his brother Ajay had invested a large part of their savings in a fishing business in India. After the crash and Ajay's death, the family's plans were left hanging in the balance, adding to the strain in what was already an extremely difficult year.

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