
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, is the only passenger who survived the tragic crash of an Air India plane with 242 people on board. But while he escaped physically with only a few wounds to his face and chest, he remains psychologically devastated by what he experienced and by feelings of guilt over his brother's death.
Sitting in seat 11A of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Vishwash has been called a "miracle man" and "God's child" by the Indian media, but for him, survival is a heavy burden to live with.
"I don't know how I survived. I saw everyone dying in front of my eyes," he told the media.
His brother Ajay, 35, died in the crash, and Vishwash has been tormented ever since by the feeling of helplessness at not being able to help him.
"I'm fine physically, but it kills me that I couldn't save my brother," he told The Sun.
He had tried to book two seats next to each other on the ill-fated flight AI171, but was forced to choose separate seats due to a lack of seats.
"If we had sat together, maybe we both would have been saved," he adds.
According to his relatives, Vishwash has been having difficult nights, with restless sleep and recurring nightmares. “He dreams that he’s still on the plane and sees everyone dying,” said Krunal Keshave, a cousin from Leicester. “He doesn’t talk about the accident, he keeps everything inside.”
After the crash, Vishwash attempted to get back on the plane to save his brother. Footage obtained by MailOnline shows him pleading with emergency workers: "My brother is in there, burning alive. I have to save him."
According to the first aid worker at the scene, he was bleeding, disoriented and in shock, but determined to get back inside. He later carried his brother's coffin at a ceremony in Gujarat.
The plane crashed into a medical college dormitory in the city of Ahmedabad, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, including 52 British citizens - making it one of Britain's worst air accidents.
The investigation into the crash has focused on the actions of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who is suspected of turning off the fuel supply switches in a panic while First Officer Clive Kunder tried to stabilize the plane. Black box recordings show a tense exchange between the two pilots, with neither taking responsibility for the fatal fuel cut.
Meanwhile, for Vishwash, survival has come at a terrible emotional cost. He lives every day with the memory of his lost brother and the weight of being the sole survivor of a disaster that affected dozens of families in India and Britain.