A brave British mom who made it out alive after a superyacht sank off the coast of Italy said she used “all her strength” to hold her 1-year-old daughter above her head to save her from drowning.
Charlotte Golunski, 36, saved her daughter, Sophia, from the sinking ship after it capsized in the port of Porticello early Monday during a violent sunrise storm.
The mom recounted the horrifying experience, saying she “held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning,” the Times UK reported, citing La Repubblica.
“It was all dark. In the water, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
Golunski said her family survived because they were on deck when the boat sank after being woken by “thunder, lightning and waves that made our boat dance.”
“It was the end of the world and my husband and I were struggling to stand up,” she recalled.
As the ship sank, she and her family were thrown into the unforgiving sea, where she lost her daughter “for two seconds” before quickly locating her and holding her close.
“Many were shouting, and luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us were able to climb in,” she added.
Golunski, her partner, James Emsilie, and Sophia were all taken to the hospital for treatment.
The family had been guests of her boss on the boat, she said, adding that she wasn’t sure who had been saved yet.
“We left London in a group of nine or 10 with Sophia — all employees and collaborators of our software company. We were all guests of our boss, a good person, extraordinary, who they may not yet have saved,” she said.
Fifteen people, including the family, were rescued from the wreck early Monday.
Six others — including two Americans — are still missing at sea, while one body, believed to belong to the ship’s chef, was found near the wreck, local media reported.
Among those missing still were the ship’s owner, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, according to reports.
Three other Britons, two Americans and one Canadian were also missing, the Guardian reported.
The captain is among the survivors, an Italian coast guard spokesperson told CNN.
A helicopter and rescue boats from the coast guard, carabinieri, fire rescue and civil protection service were at the scene early Monday searching for those who had not been accounted for, according to the Australian Associated Press.
The massive yacht, the Bayesian, flies under the British flag and can reach a maximum speed of 15 knots (17 mph).
Twelve of its passengers were guests while 10 were crew.
