Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
26 year-old Agilan “The Alligator” Thani is a full-time MMA fighter for the ONE Championship and competes in the welterweight division. But even the elites in combat arts aren’t safe from a natural tragedy like the recent floods that struck the homes of many, including the remarkable athlete who lives with his wife.
This is his story:
My wife and I live in Kampung Kasipillay, KL with Premium and Mimo – our beloved partners in crime in the forms of a rottweiler and a poodle respectively. We also live right by a river, so if anything were to happen with the drain, we would probably be one of the first ones affected… and we were.
We went out for our usual grocery run around 8PM on that rainy Saturday, and it never takes us more than an hour to do our shopping. We hadn’t noticed how bad the rain was getting, being indoors busy grabbing our everyday cereal and toilet paper. So by the time we returned home to our taman by 9PM, there was already a small flood on the streets.
When we got to our house, we found that water had not entered the house yet. So instinctively, me and my wife dropped our groceries as quickly as we could and immediately reached for our dogs. We took Premium and Mimo to the upstairs of the house, as water was unlikely to reach the higher ground and they were much safer there.
After we secured the dogs, our next step was to do the same with every other prized possession we have in our home.
But by the time we got back downstairs, the water level was already up to knee-level.
We didn’t manage to salvage our furniture. Our sofas, cutlery, microwave, and basically every electrical appliance that we own were all destroyed. Even the cabinet that stored all our clothes got wiped out with mud and water. Calling it a mess would be an understatement.
I had an old bike and my wife had an old car that were both completely submerged by the water. It’s safe to say that we lost them both – though they’re both in the workshop as I speak. Fortunately for us, we were able to move our everyday car that we had just used for our grocery run to slightly higher ground in time. But despite our efforts, the floods still got to the car.
By 2am, the water was up to chest-level
Maneuvering around got very difficult by then. The river was right outside our house on the right side, so there was a strong current rushing the water in and out of the house. We had to use long sticks and branches to make our way around, going through things item by item to see if they were salvageable. We kept and cleaned whatever we could, and gave up on stuff that had no hope.
From what we knew, most, if not all, of our neighbours lost their entire ground floor too, and that they only had their upper floor to rely on for rest. Some of the older people even passed out during the flood. It was very overwhelming to say the least, but it was more scary than anything else.
Around 4am, I went to check on my car when I noticed…
There was a Malay lady standing on a tiny bricked wall in front of a house, surrounded by the floodwaters and mud all around. She got lost from her husband in an attempt to rescue their relative.
Me and my wife eventually got to her and managed to carry her away from where she was stranded. We brought her back to our house. Even though it still had water everywhere, at least it was better than being out in the open rain. And there wasn’t anything that long sticks and branches couldn’t help.
The next day
Having had no sleep that night, I was wide awake when I noticed that the water slowly receded around 9AM on Sunday the next day, and was gone by noon. Everything was left wet and covered in mud.
The bomba came to our taman around 4:30PM and attended to everyone who was stuck there needing help to get back to the main road. They provided rescue supplies like lifejackets and floating boards to ensure the people got out safely. This was when the lady we rescued expressed her gratitude before taking off in one of the lifeboats.
Thus began our still-ongoing road to recovery which involves nothing but cleaning. Everything smells.
Agilan extends his wishes to everyone affected by this tragedy to stay safe, to take care of each other and, most importantly, to be kind.
For more stories like this, read: I Had To Watch The Flood Destroy A Kampung While My Car Was Stuck In A Flooded Jam and “I Watched The Floodwaters Rise” – A Malaysian’s Account Of The Flood In Shah Alam
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