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Edition: U.S. Article Slideshow Video Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared UPDATE 1-Drug data mining ban unlikely in Senate health bill 14 Dec 2009 Iconix breaking off talks with Playboy: report 12:33am EST YouTube looks at subscriptions, more ad dollars 15 Dec 2009 Boeing Dreamliner touches down after first flight | Video 15 Dec 2009 Fewer Americans worried by climate change: survey 15 Dec 2009 Branson offers Lotus F1 boss a stewardess challenge 15 Dec 2009 U.S. forgoes billions in tax on Citi: report 15 Dec 2009 President Obama's speech at Nobel ceremony 10 Dec 2009 Wamu asks to probe Fed over collapse 15 Dec 2009 Southwest Air tops best U.S. places to work-survey 12:00am EST For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune Shihar Aneez BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:10pm EST Related Video Clinton praises post-tsunami rebuild Tue, Dec 15 2009 < 1 / 7 > View Full Size BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami brought international fame to Baby 81, but the parents of the two-month-old who miraculously survived the deadly wave say it has only brought misfortune. World Found in the debris left by the wave that wrecked swathes of Sri Lanka's coast and killed 226,000 along the Indian Ocean rim, Abhilash Jeyaraj became a phenomenon after international media reported nine sets of parents had come forward to claim him. He was brought to the hospital by a villager who found him and, since he had no identification, was named after his hospital admission number: Baby 81. After his injured parents got out of another hospital two days later and went to claim him, a media storm erupted, which eventually forced Abhilash's parents to go to the police and courts to get their son back. They were even arrested when they tried to force their way into the hospital to get their son back and could only bring him home after the father supplied a DNA sample -- six weeks after the tsunami. Subsequent accounts have pointed out the real story was blown far out of proportion -- there were no other couples trying to claim the child. A TV crew filmed Baby 81 and the rushes were seen by a wire agency reporter. Whether it was a mistake in translation or some other kind of misunderstanding is unknown, but a report then ran that "nine desperate heartbroken women" were all claiming the child as their own. But for Abhilash's father, Muruhappillai Jeyaraj, the unrelenting media hullabaloo over a vast misunderstanding has been a personal experience almost worse than the tsunami itseslf. "I wish we all would have died in the tsunami," he told Reuters, holding Abhilash, 5, in his lap. "I would not have to tell this story again and again. Nobody will believe that there is no change in our lives." ROCK ALBUM Abhilash and his family were flown to the United States for a 13-day trip with an interview on NBC's Good Morning America not long after the tsunami. They were never paid for the appearance, Jeyaraj insists. An American alternative rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club called their 2007 album Baby 81 and sold 14,000 copies in its first week. What should have brought in help, only brought harm, said Jeyaraj, a barber by profession. "Abhilash has become a dole for all the media, just to get his picture or visual and give publicity. But that publicity has been useless for him or us," Jeyaraj said. People assumed he was getting rich off the publicity and began hounding him. He could not get local aid because charities believed he had been paid for the trip to New York. He moved the family from their village in Kalmunai to the city of Batticaloa, on Sri Lanka's east coast. Unlike many tsunami survivors who were given houses by the government, Abhilash and his family stay in an unfinished two-room house built on his aunt's land. As for the boy himself, he says he still doesn't know what happened to him, or why the media come looking for him on a tsunami anniversary. TRIUMPH AFTER TRAGEDY Though few signs of tsunami wreckage can be seen in stricken coastal communities, some survivors like the Jeyaraj family are still dealing with the emotional debris. At least a third of those killed in the monster waves were children. Hundreds of thousands of children who survived had to cope with the loss of family members, teachers and friends. A disproportionate number of women were killed, leaving "bachelor villages" of men struggling to run homes. Mothers guilty about surviving their children battled depression. Fishermen took to the bottle rather than face the sea again. But for every story of bitterness and despair, 10 more can be found that are a testament to hope and optimism. Kushil Gunasekera had planned on handing out scholarships on December 26, 2004 to promising primary school cricketers at his small literacy foundation in Seenigama village, 100 km (60 miles) south of Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Instead, the former cricket club champion led them in fleeing the tsunami waves that killed more than 150 in the village. Afterward, he started taking care of scores of survivors in the family's sprawling ancestral home. He became an "instant aid" group, one of scores of amateur micro-charities that sprung up in the aftermath of one of the great calamities of our age. The stunning television pictures of a phenomenon few people had ever seen, and the sheer scope of the disaster, prompted an unprecedented outpouring of charity across the world. Some of it came to Gunasekera's shoe-string operation. Soon he was providing livelihood training. His "model village" project now provides a range of free services for more than 20,000 people in the area, ranging from health and dental care, photography and diving classes, to a sports academy for the youth. "It is true, this project could never have happened before the tsunami as it was difficult to get funds," Gunasekera said. "It's sad to say, but from this tragic event came a blessing," he said. "The kindness of people was overwhelming and the waves of compassion overpowered the waves of destruction." (Additional reporting by Nita Bhalla; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Bill Tarrant) World More from Reuters "Polluters are given rights to continue their dirty habits" A climate change scientist blasts proposals for a cap and trade system, arguing it allows dirty industries to continue polluting, instead of rewarding innovation. Full Article | Full Coverage Climate Conference The heat is on Farmers in northwest China are living with lost crops, dry wells and frequent droughts. Their resulting poverty is directly linked to climate change. Full Article China exports to help green growth Rainy Taiwan faces water shortage Green Business Pictures that defined a decade A woman's grief amid the tsunami devastation and one woman's fight against police in the Amazon are among the indelible Reuters images of the last 10 years. Slideshow Seventh selection in the series Do you agree with our choices? Pictures © Copyright 2009 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts.com Buyouts Europe: Buyouts Conferences: Venture Capital Journal ECVJ International Financing Review International Securitisation Report Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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