KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's "Mighty Man" R. Letchemanah, 55, who once towed a Boeing 737 aircraft with his hair, died early Tuesday at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) of a heart infection.
His son, Thiyagarajan, 29, said all family members were by his bedside when he breathed his last at 1.45 am.
"Since three weeks ago, my father was not feeling well due to an infection of the heart where surgery was done two years ago," he said when contacted by Bernama.
Letchemanah, from Taman Mutiara Subang, Sungai Buloh, and a former employee of the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia, opted for early retirement five years ago.
He leaves a wife Rajalachmey, 50, son Thiyagarajan and two daughters, Karthiyainee, 26, and Jayabarathy, 21.
Thiyagarajan said his father wanted one of the children to inherit his extraordinary powers and abilty and since retirement was training his youngest sister Jayabarathy to pull an aeroplane.
"The whole family is sad because my father's wish to see my sister inherit his ability ended abruptly," he said.
Letchemanah's remains would be cremated at the Kg Tunku Crematorium in Sungai Way tomorrow.
On Sept 30, 1990, Letchemanah amazed the world when he pulled a Boeing 737 aircraft weighing 32.5 tonnes for a distance of 16.9 metres at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.
He received wide attention and recognition for his remarkable feat, considered a world record at that time, and continued to record other achievements.
He repeated his feat at the Burtingthorpe Proving Ground in Leicestershire, England, on May 1, 1999 but this time he pulled a double-decker bus weighing 7,874 kg.
After this, his daughter Jayabarathy started following in his footsteps and etched her name in the Malaysia Book of Records in 2002 when she pulled a 3.7-tonne lorry using her hair.
She went further and broke her father's record set in 1998 when he pulled, using his hair, two Perodua Rusa vans with 16 silat exponents inside at Menara PGRM in Cheras here.
-- BERNAMA
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