He spent six months
in a coma after being discovered on the ground at Heathrow Airport. He has now spoken
for the first time of his terrifying journey. His best friend fell 5,000ft from the aircraft to his death.
Cabeka, 30, recalls: ‘When the plane was flying, I could
see the ground, I could see the cars, I could see small people. After a little
time, I passed out through lack of oxygen. The last thing I remember just after
the plane took off was Carlito (his friend) saying to me: “Yeah, we’ve made
it.” ’
He explained how they left poverty in South Africa‘ in 2015. "The
airport was guarded so we jumped over the fence when it was dark. We dressed in
black because we have to dress like no one sees us – two T-shirts, three
jackets, two jeans.’
After getting over the fence, they hid for about 15 minutes
until they spotted a plane ready to take off.
The BA jumbo to London took off at 10.15pm. It was the
first time either man had been on an aeroplane. ‘We had to force ourselves to
be squeezed inside. I could hear the engine running,’ he said.
‘My heart had pounded before, but that day it was not in my
mind at all because I had just taken the decision to do it. I knew how
dangerous it was but I just took my own chances. I didn’t care whether I lived
or died. I had to leave Africa to survive.’
Cabeka tied himself to the plane with an electric cable
wrapped around his arm. Aviation experts say it is very rare for stowaways to
survive in an unheated, unpressurised part of an aircraft. There is room,
though, in the four sets of a 747’s landing gear, each in a housing the size of
a car, as long as they stay in one of the corners away from the wheels when
they retract.
He still cannot believe he managed to survive temperatures
that would have dropped to -60C. The first thing he recalled was lying on the
runway with a shattered leg.
‘The thing that made me wake up is the way I dropped out on
the runway,’ said Cabeka, who still uses crutches due to injuries sustained
when he fell. ‘I was here. The plane was there. I was asking myself, “How did I
get out of the plane?” I could see these guys, they were the guards, they
carried me up and I passed out again. I woke up in hospital after being in a
coma for six months.’
Doctors believe Cabeka survived because the freezing
temperatures kept him in a state of ‘suspended animation’. With a lowered core
body temperature, the heart, brain and other critical organs are placed into a
‘standby mode’ in which they do not require nearly as much oxygen, thus
limiting damage to cells and organs.
‘I was lucky not to hurt my head,’ he said. ‘I had two burn
marks on my arm, but it is OK now because I had surgery. But something is still
wrong with my leg. I’m hoping they can sort it out.’
Cabeka applied for asylum to stay in the UK and was granted
leave to remain – though he is coy about on what grounds that was granted.
He simply says: ‘When I was applying as an asylum-seeker, I
went through the process and was accepted.’ He now lives in a one-bedroom flat
in Liverpool and is unable to work due to his injury.
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