1. On the fore-deck with the choppers there was so much noise of wind, sea and engines and the deck heaving and just hanging on that I didn't think about dying.
2.We said over and over that we were glad that our 15 year old daughter, Amber, and her 14 year old cousin, Shayne, had got off in Durban a few days before. If they'd been aboard we may have acted differently.
3.I felt angry at the lack of co-operation from the Captain and his officers but never voiced it to him. He is the Captain and at the time, on board, it's hard to change that perception of him.
4. Then, when hundreds of people were unquestioningly and trustingly obeying our instructions, I just couldn't let them down.
5. However, I'd been on that deck for many hours and I was used to the danger and the proximity of the water so I wasn't very fearful.
6.This, coupled with the fact that so many passengers slipped and fell and others struck the railings as they were hoisted aloft, made me worried about the injury rate of the people I was rescuing. When our chopper finally landed and people swarmed around to thank us and I saw that everyone looked okay, I was overcome with emotion.