By LITO RULONA, Correspondent A SEAFARER and his group saved 22 people but it cost the man one of his body parts. The seaman, who is from Misamis Oriental, lost a foot in a freak accident while he was rescuing over 20 passengers of a motorboat that capsized in the waters off Liloan town in Cebu, and Camotes Islands on Friday. Authorities identified the hero as 48-year old Rudyard Payusan, chief mate of the Landing Craft Tank Gold Crescent. Payusan is from Barangay Poblacion in Initao town. His cousin Daisy Joe Bagares called on the government for help, saying the seafarer has two children who may no longer be able to finish college because Payusan was handicapped. Payusan’s daughters, Regine, 19, and Estrellita, 22, are taking up an education course at the Initao College. His wife Gina has just left for Kuwait to work as a domestic helper there. Bagares said Payusan and her two daughters talked on phone on Saturday morning asking, and he told them not to worry because he was being taken care of by his company. Bagares said Payusan’s relatives are appealing for help after doctors decided to amputate his right foot from above the ankle because of the injury. Payusan and other seamen jumped to the water to rescue about 22 passengers of M/V Manzan from Talibon, Bohol, hours after it capsized due to strong winds and big waves brought by bad weather. The crew tried to get near the capsized boat and were tying a rope so that that their barge could drag it toward the shore but Payusan’s leg and foot were entangled in the process. Bagares said Payusan was about to go on vacation that day but he was asked by his company, Golden Bridge Shipping Inc., to stay for one more day because he was still needed, and no one could replace him yet. Payusan, according to reports, was the one who first saw the capsized boat through the ship’s telescope, and he immediately asked for permission from the ship’s captain to order the crew to throw life rafts out to the sea when they saw survivors. Their vessel could not get close to the motorboat because of the rough waters.