EDITOR’S NOTE: A two-part series on Laskar Kanan PAP (FKL) Michael Coccon Johen’s 15-hour ordeal and survival in the South China Sea after a parachute jump went off course near Pulau Layang-Layang, Sabah. Read Part 1 here: ‘I kept swimming, but I wasn’t moving’: Sarawakian Navy commando recalls 15 hours adrift (Part 1)
By Shikin Louis
AFTER spending 15 hours alone in the South China Sea, Sarawakian Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) special forces member Laskar Kanan PAP (FKL) Michael Coccon Johen said the thought that frightened him most was not drowning, but the possibility that nobody would find him.
For hours, the 27-year-old Bidayuh from Kampung Bobak Sejinjang in Singai, Bau, could see little more than distant lights and the dark expanse of sea around him as currents repeatedly carried him away from Pulau Layang-Layang (Swallow Reef), about 300km north of Sabah.
“The thing I thought about most while I was in the sea was whether people would find me. That was my biggest fear.
“That was why I kept trying to survive, because the chances of someone finding you in the middle of the open sea are actually very slim,” Coccon said in an interview in Bau on Aug 25.
The others were found first
Coccon was the last of six Navy personnel to be rescued after their parachute jump went off course on Aug 12, with his five comrades located by about 11pm that night.
While their rescue brought relief, Coccon remained alone in the open sea, still trying to reach the island and waiting for the search operation to find him.
The ordeal also took a toll on some of his comrades. One suffered a bite to the shoulder from a cookiecutter shark, while two others had their flotation jackets bitten and punctured. Despite the damage, they were able to remain afloat for several hours before being found.
Coccon said the incident underscored the importance of their training, which enabled them to remain afloat and composed even after their equipment was damaged.
For him, however, the most important battle was conserving enough strength to keep going until another opportunity to survive presented itself.
Training in the water
Coccon credited his PASKAL training with helping him remain calm in the water, saying he was accustomed to operating in difficult marine conditions.
He has completed about 29 parachute jumps and undergone specialised training in military freefall, sniper skills, combat medicine and small arms.
His survival training has also included exercises at sea lasting up to a week and on land for up to two weeks.
That training helped him understand when to push himself and when to stop, particularly after he realised that swimming harder against the current was only exhausting him without bringing him any closer to the island.
For Coccon, staying calm was crucial because panic could have caused him to waste the strength he needed to survive.
“As long as we are still breathing, we should keep going,” he said.
Despite the ordeal, Coccon said it had not changed his attitude towards parachuting, which remains part of his duties as a PASKAL member.
Asked whether he would jump again, his answer was immediate.
“It is our duty. It is our job,” he said.
The call he never made
There was, however, one thing Coccon regretted about the Aug 12 jump.
He normally informs his mother and wife before carrying out a parachute jump, but poor communications around the island meant he was unable to contact either of them before taking part in the exercise.
When his family learnt that he was among the personnel who had gone missing, they were devastated.
Coccon said his wife, family members and friends were in tears and deeply emotional when they eventually learnt that he had been found alive.
“My wife and family were crying. My friends were also emotional when they found me,” he said.
The experience has since made him determined to inform them before future jumps, even though he knows parachuting remains part of his job.
A childhood brush with drowning
Coccon’s survival story also carries an unexpected connection to his childhood.
When he was still in kindergarten, he nearly drowned in a river and had to be rescued by his uncle.
He does not know whether that experience influenced his relationship with water, but he grew up playing almost every sport before eventually entering a profession where being comfortable in the water became an essential part of his training.
Today, water is no longer something he fears.
Instead, it is one of the environments in which he has spent years learning how to survive.
‘Join first, then you will know’
For young people considering a career in the military, Navy or PASKAL, Coccon has a simple message: do not let other people’s opinions stop them from finding out what the profession has to offer.
“Don’t listen to what people say. Join first, then you will know,” he said.
He said military service, particularly the commando path, offered many opportunities to learn new skills and gain experiences that could not be found elsewhere.
For members of the public, however, his advice from the ordeal is much simpler: learn to float.
Coccon said those who are not confident in the water should begin in shallow water, gradually become comfortable with floating and learn to remain calm.
He stressed that a person does not necessarily need to be a strong swimmer to survive an emergency in the water.
“You may not be able to swim far or swim beautifully, but floating is the most important thing,” he said.
It was a lesson Coccon had put into practice for hours in the South China Sea, where he eventually realised that fighting the waves was exhausting him faster than it was taking him towards safety.
So he conserved his strength, rested when he needed to and kept watching for an opportunity to get out of the water.
When that opportunity finally appeared in the form of a naval vessel just 30 to 40 metres away, Coccon did what he had been doing throughout the ordeal: he made a decision, summoned whatever strength he had left and swam towards it.
After 15 hours alone in the South China Sea, he finally made it home. — DayakDaily
