"Miracle at the Crease

Mal Walden.

Batticoloa, Sri Lanka, 2004.

Boxing Day 2004 began like any other day. A smoky haze from early morning fires
hung over the tiny fishing village on the East Coast of Sri Lanka.
Katina a 15-year old local was seen tying her long black hair into a ponytail
kicking off her thongs and paddling along the tide-line looking for driftwood for her
stove.
She was married to Raj, 4 months pregnant and living in shared-house just meters
from the beach.
The early morning sun cast long speckled shafts of light between the mangroves as
she ventured out onto the mudflats.
Suddenly her ears popped in much the same way as they do when air pressure
changes. At that moment she heard a strange gurgling sucking sound and watched
fascinated as the tide began to recede. Faster and faster it raced in a manner she had
never seen before; in fact so fast that fish were being left behind flipping and flopping
in shallow puddles.
Katina quickly followed the receding water picking up several fish and dropping them
into the folds of her floral dress. The fish would be a bonus to the driftwood she had
already gathered. Then the gurgling sound stopped and was replaced by another sound
just as strange to her. It was the sound of surf yet this was a sheltered inlet several
hundred meters from the sea.
But before her natural instincts kicked in the mud flats began to vibrate and the sound
became a roar.
That was the last Katina would remember.
A huge wall of water swept her up tossing her around like a rag doll in a washing
machine and dumping her in a tree passed her house in the hinterland.

The tide then turned carrying her house, her husband, trees, buildings, cars, bikes and
every conceivable household appliance. It swept along in a wave of mud, sand and
sludge, devouring everything and everyone in its path. Having withdrawn with its
cargo of carnage it formed into a second wave then turned and struck again.
It's not known how she survived but Katina was found some time later wedged in the
tree unconscious and barely alive. For several weeks she lay in critical care at the
local hospital fighting for her life while her unborn baby appeared to have
miraculously survived unharmed by the ordeal.
According to hospital records Katina was physically and mentally unable to bring up
her child. Her parents had also indicated they could not support their daughter or her
baby son and had recommended he be put up for adoption in the best interests of the
child.
****
Two weeks ago a young Melbourne boy strode out to the crease to compete in a
junior suburban cricket match.
Padded up and dressed in pristine whites nine year old Sanjay faced his first ball. He
swung wildly and missed. The second ball was a wide and he tapped the third for a
single.
No one was more proud than his doting parents.
After 15 years of marriage the one thing in their lives they had been denied was a
baby. Having registered in 2001 for overseas adoption they had almost given up any
hope until several months after the Tsunami they received a phone call from the
Victorian Department of Human Services.
The voice was smooth, compassionate with just a trace of authority. We would like
to inform you there is a possibility a child has been allocated to you in Sri Lanka.
However they were warned, If you accept you will be going to a country where
promises are broken, dreams are shattered and prayers are rarely answered.
They were fully aware of the risks of entering Tamil territory torn apart, not just by
the Tsunami, but years of civil war. Both were from Sri Lanka and both were also
Tamils. They left three days later.
On arrival in the capital Colombo, the agent appointed by the Australian Government
advised them on procedures and within hours they set out on a grueling 300-kilometre
road trip from Colombo to Batticoloa.
Late that day they arrived in the town and were met by the appointed probation officer
who immediately took them to meet their prospective son who had been placed in a
safe house for his own protection. It wasn't an orphanage.
They were told that orphanages had become the target of organised child traffickers,
pedophiles and even women who had lost their own babies had been claiming others
to replace their loss.
The union was all too brief and reluctantly they had to wait three more days for a
court decision to ratify the adoption.

However on the third day the judge failed to turn up as the country had suddenly been
plunged into a state of emergency.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, 73-year-old Lakshman Kadirgama, had been
assassinated - shot dead while returning to his home in the diplomatic district of the
capital - and Tamils were the suspects. Now they were at the centre of a national crisis
which they feared would dash any hope of an early adoption.
The following morning they headed back to court and while the judge turned up this
time they noted he was in a most belligerent mood.
"It was obvious from the start that he opposed foreign adoption and now ordered we
post a further 10 thousand dollars in a trust account." Again the hearing was
adjourned.
The following day their probationary officer took the stand and a short time later the
judge finally but reluctantly stamped and approved the adoption.
While elated with the decision they still had no guarantees of ever leaving the country
with their son.
The court order could still be blocked and more than one thousand police and troops
had been drafted into a manhunt for the assassins and most were heading their way
into eastern Sri Lanka.
However the baby seemed to be their passport through the numerous military
checkpoints on their return to Colombo.
Once safely back in the capital, they anxiously waited for the arrival of the final visa.
"We were told the minute you receive your papers get out of the country". "We were
so close.
Military police had just launched fresh raids in their search for the assassins and
Tamil suspects when the babys visa arrived by courier at their hotel.
They immediately fled to the international airport for the first available flight out of
the country.
Hearts were pounding as they made their final dash knowing airport immigration
could still block the adoption. "We held our breath and prayed as we made that final
walk through to the boarding gate."
It was only when the plane finally lifted off and its wheels thumped into place did
they know they had made it.
They admit having been to hell and back but say we brought back someone who had
been blessed in heaven.
****
Almost ten years after the devastating Asian Tsunami a dozen or so parents stood
watching their young boys emulate their cricketing heroes on a well-worn pitch in an
outer suburb of Melbourne.
Sanjay has no idea of his heritage nor of the events that unfolded on that fateful
Boxing Day - his parents say he will be told when the time is right.
Ten minutes after his opening swing Sanjay was clean bowled for six runs but the fact
he was even at the crease was a miracle in itself.