My Lucky Escape from Sipadan

The 22nd of April 2000 was the last day of my stay at a little resort on Sipadan. The diving had been awesome, but it had been overshadowed by a leg injury I had sustained a month previously in the Red Sea, an ankle scrape probably from coral. It seemed inconsequential at the time, but the infection began to track in my leg later, with nasty-looking hematomas forming on my calf. Though I had covered them with waterproof dressings for diving, someone on the island observed that I should be careful, or I might lose my leg.

It was a boring non-diving day, and I skulked under the little jetty to stay out of the unforgiving tropical sun. While idly passing the time, I noticed a small boat approaching close to shore. It was filled with a half-dozen tough-looking ruffians who were certainly not dive crew or tourists. They were all looking very carefully at the shoreline. It was unusual.

That evening, I took a boat ride to Semporna and onwards to Tawau for my flights back to London.

What I learned later, I had unknowingly witnessed Abu Sayyaf terrorists casing the island the day before they kidnapped 21 visiting divers and resort staff while they were having dinner. They were taken across the open ocean 200 miles to the Philippine island of Jolo, where they were kept captive in the jungle while the terrorists sought ransom for their return. After an unsuccessful attack by the Philippine army, they began releasing hostages four months later.

As it turned out, when I got home, my leg infection was more severe, and doctors discussed whether amputation below the knee might be required. But I was lucky. The hospital Registrar in the UK, coincidentally from Kota Kinabalu, recognized that I was suffering from a coral infection tracking in my lymphatic system. Surgery resolved the problem and put me on the road to recovery.

And I was doubly lucky. Had I stayed one more day on Sipadan, I would have been one of those hostages and held for months in a Philippine jungle. My coral infection would have killed me long before the terrorists began releasing hostages.

-- John Bantin