‘Broken spirits but renewed hearts’: Charge Nurse Livinai tells

Members of the Lakeba Medical Outreach Team who feared they would never see their families again after being stranded at sea have returned with a renewed commitment to serve the maritime communities of Lau.

Charge Nurse Livinai Namami delivered an emotional account of the team’s ordeal during a visit to Parliament today, describing their survival as a miracle and thanking those who prayed, searched and ultimately rescued them.

“As I look around this August House today, I see light, I see warmth, and I see life.

“But if I close my eyes for just a second, I am instantly taken back to a few weeks ago—out in the middle of the cold, vast Lau Ocean. I can still taste the salt. I can still feel the terrifying weight of the dark, and the crushing realization that we were completely helpless.”

Mr Namami said the health workers, who had dedicated themselves to saving others, suddenly found themselves unable to save themselves.

“Standing before you today is a miracle.

“As members of the Lakeba Medical Outreach Team, we spent our lives trying to save others.

“But out there, drifting for hours that felt like lifetimes, we couldn't save ourselves. We watched the sun go down, we watched the waves get bigger, and in our hearts, we began to say our silent goodbyes to our children, our spouses, and our parents.”

The seven survivors during a visit to Parliament today, describing their survival as a miracle and thanking those who prayed, searched and ultimately rescued them.

Parliament of Fiji

‘We survived on those prayers’

Mr Namami said prayer gave the team strength as they faced the possibility that they might not survive.

“Today, I want to say this clearly to everyone listening: we did not survive because we were strong. We survived because an entire nation fell to its knees.

“To the citizens of Fiji here at home, the coastal villagers who walked the shores looking for us, and our families and friends weeping and praying across the globe—your cries reached heaven.

“When our bodies grew numb and we were too weak to hold on, it was the overwhelming spirit of your prayers that kept our heads above water. We survived on those prayers.”

He paid tribute to the national rescue teams, the Fiji Navy, Fiji Police Force and local rescuers in Lau who continued searching as time ran out.

“We owe our lives to the brave men and women of our national rescue teams, the Fiji Navy, The Fiji Police Force and our local heroes in Lau.

“You did not give up on us when time was running out.”

‘You gave us back our lives’

Mr Namami reserved special thanks for the captain and crew of the Lomaiviti Princess 12, whose arrival brought an end to their ordeal.

“And then, when hope felt like a fading ember, the silhouette of the Lomaiviti Princess 12 broke through the horizon.

“To the Captain and the incredible crew of LP 12—when your hands reached down into that water to pull us up, you weren’t just pulling bodies out of the sea.

“You were bringing mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons back from the dead. You gave us back our lives. We will weep tears of gratitude for you until the day we die.”

Mr Namami also thanked President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Members of Parliament for their leadership and support during the search.

“To His Excellency the President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, the The Prime Minister, Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka and every Member of Parliament—thank you for your tears, your leadership, and for mobilizing every resource to find us.

“Thank you for caring for us not just as civil servants, but as your own children.”

Renewed commitment to Lau

Despite the trauma they endured, Mr Namami said the experience had strengthened the team’s determination to return to the communities they served.

“The sea tried to take us, but God returned us to you.

“We come back with broken spirits but renewed hearts, more committed than ever to serve the maritime communities of Lau and this nation Fiji.

“From the absolute depths of our souls, vinaka vakalevu, thank you, and may God bless our beloved Fiji.”