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LONE survivor of the 2022 Paria diving tragedy, Christopher Boodram, has described receiving a $1 million ex gratia payment from government as a “breath of fresh air.”

Speaking on the TT Today programme, on state-owned television station TTT, on January 23, Boodram said he has been unable to work since surviving the horrific accident which claimed the lives of fellow divers Faizal Kurban, Yusuff Henry, Rishi Nagessar and Kazim Ali Jr.

“I am unable to apply my skill and trade and for that period of time, financially, things were tough ‘cause everything just rest on my wife’s hands – bills, loans and everything else were in her hands and it was difficult. So this was really, really a breath of fresh air.”