Lots of the people around me perished in the cold before the rescue teams could get to us. But eventually I managed to drag myself through the water, the debris and the bodies and found myself under a smashed window. By this time divers were down in the stricken ship, searching for the few remaining survivors, and I was helped into a harness and winched up onto the side of the ship. Stiff with cold, numb to the core with shock, I was wrapped in a blanket and given brandy and cigarettes before a rescue vessel took me ashore. I had survived with little more than cuts and bruises but it took a long time to get over the emotional problems anyone involved in such an accident inevitably suffers.
Some survivors still struggle to cope even now.
I hope it's a long time before I have to cover another disaster, be it on the rails or in the air or on the seas. But I know it will happen.