Cruise ship sinking: ‘I owe my life to my husband, who gave up his life jacket so that I could live’

HE died so she might live. From the sunken wreckage of the Costa Concordia, a tragic tale of love and self sacrifice has emerged after a husband forced his wife to take his life jacket only to be swept away and drowned.

For Francis Servel, a 71-year-old French pensioner, the most important thing as the liner began to sink into the cold, dark waters of the Mediterranean late on Friday evening was the safety of his wife Nicole, who could not swim.

As they prepared to leap from the stricken vessel he insisted she wear his life jacket and while she was able to struggle to shore, he is believed to have suffered a heart attack triggered by exertion and the cold water and drowned.

The cruise was a belated 60th birthday present to Nicole from their family, but yesterday the couple’s daughter, Edwige was heading to Italy to collect her father’s body, while her mother waited at their home in the village of Ramonville Saint-Agne, near Toulouse.

Nicole Servel, 61, yesterday paid tribute to her husband: “I owe my life to my husband. He was shouting ‘jump, jump’, because I can’t swim he had given me his life jacket. I froze and didn’t jump, so he jumped off and shouted back ‘come on, don’t worry’. I jumped off and the last thing I heard him say was ‘I’ll be fine’. Then I never saw him again.”

Yesterday, the teams of divers, who have spent almost three days searching the murky sunken corridors, cabins and bars of the luxury cruise liner were forced to postpone the rescue operation after the ship, which is skewered on rocks above a 150ft sloping drop, began to move by several centimetres.

Earlier, rescuers recovered a sixth body from the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia, which was holed by a reef on Friday night and rolled on to its side just off the coast of the picturesque island of Giglio. In addition to the six known to have died, officials say 16 of the 4,200 passengers and crew are missing. The calm weather which since Friday has aided the rescue and search of the wreck, one of the biggest ever, took a turn for the worse with rougher seas and a light drizzle falling.

However, the search continued after a five-hour delay with 20 divers at a time probing the wreck for signs of life. Trailing a safety line, which will allow them to find their route out from the maze of corridors and illuminating the darkness with lights mounted on their helmets, the divers have had to dodge floating mattresses, tents and carpets.

A diver working to search the vast dark spaces, who did not wish to be named said: “The sea is rougher today. It is much more difficult to work.”

Luca Carli, a spokesman for the Italian fire brigade, which is co-ordinating the rescue with the coastguard said they had heard no noises from possible survivors and added: “The more time passes, the less possibility there is of finding anyone alive.”

The statement will be agony for Susy Albertini, whose five-year-old daughter Dyana is among those still missing, along with Dyana’s father, William Arlotti, 34.

Yesterday, Ms Albertini said: “I have made hundreds of phone calls to my ex-husband, but he does not respond. I called all the authorities, the Police Prefecture to the Marina di Grosseto, the fire department, but nobody can tell me anything about my daughter.

“The last time I saw Dyana was Thursday morning. I took her to kindergarten. In the evening her father picked her up. It is not the first time she has gone with her father on a cruise. I continue to call everyone and no one can tell me anything about my daughter.”

Miss Albertini’s mother, Alberta Sartini, added: “We are waiting for news, we are on tenterhooks. My daughter had trusted to give the child to her former husband and the child was happy to go on a cruise with him. I hope with all my heart they come back.”

Of the 16 missing, ten are passengers and six crew members. Six of the tourists are Italian, including Mr Arlotti and his daughter, a couple from Biella and two women from Enna in Sicily. Two Americans on their “holiday of a lifetime” are also still unaccounted for. Gerald and Barbara Heil, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, were confirmed as missing by their daughter.

Yesterday, further details of Friday night’s disaster were revealed by British members of the crew. James Thomas, from Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, who was one a team of British dancers acted as a human climbing frame to help 16 passengers into lifeboats.

The 19-year-old also led dozens of holidaymakers to the lifeboat decks, only abandoning ship when a passenger forced him to leave with them. He said his first thought was to make light of the situation and as the ship began to tilt he impersonated Michael Jackson.

“It was all very surreal at first. It felt like we were in a film. Me being me, I started doing an impression of Michael Jackson in the Smooth Criminal video where he’s almost horizontal. The ship was listing so much, our centre of gravity had completely shifted. Then it became more of a panic.”

Amid the chaos, the dancer, who is 6ft 3in, used his body to bridge the gap between decks three and four and assist passengers into the lifeboats.

Rose Metcalf, 23, from Wimborne in Dorset, who arrived at Heathrow Airport yesterday, was one of the last people to be rescued by a helicopter after she clambered from Deck Four to Deck Five.

She said: “There was just so much panic, so I decided to wait until the water was high enough so I could jump or swim, but I didn’t want to be inside. I was just keeping practical.

“I was making sure the people on my life raft had their jackets done up. I was trying to keep people talking, was trying to keep the mood calm and keep practical. My heart was racing, but I was calm to everyone else.”