The “Costa Concordia”‘ shipwreck

If nine kids today can say to be in safe hands, back with their parents, certainly they owe it also to her. Sandra Lerario, 29, from Acquaviva delle Fonti, Bari, working for seven years as an entertainer for “Costa Crociere.
The news from the “Costa Concordia”’ shipwreck, which took place off the coast of Giglio’s island, few miles from Tuscany in the italian Mediterranean last Saturday, spread worldwide; at now,6 the casualties, 26 people still to be sought . Due to hazardous manoeuvres, the huge ship got very close to the island smashing against its rocks, therefore unable to move from there.
Few minutes after the accident, and the engine rooms are invaded by a massive amount of water. Although the reassuring comments from the captain through the loud speakers, panic involves on the ship, reaching both passengers, counted up to 4300, and the members aboard. Everyone assumed something bad had just occured. In fact, the ship soon starts to sink, inesorably.
Press from around the world called there to write about the disaster. Still, nearly after a week from the tragedy, which reminds to the Titanic, lights are not out yet. Rescue operations are still going on, though hopes to find someone still alive, lessen as time goes by.
That night, Sandra was working. Together with his colleague Guglielmo Arrabiti, 29, from Ragusa, Sicily, were entertaining nine kids, and thanks to their operate, the kids were safely brought back to their relatives.
Something to be considered as a heroic gesture, definitely; heroic gesture, just like many others to be accounted these days, which involve both humanity and a high professional standard.
We met Sandra in Acquaviva, a few hours after she came back from Tuscany.
Q:What do you remember from that night?
A:It was twenty minutes to ten in the evening, and I was coordinating a play for kids, in the ship’s theatre. Suddenly we felt something like a rough movement of the boat. No one seemed like anything serious had occurred, but still, we preferred to stop the show there. We were told through the loudspeakers that everything was ok, so we went back to work. Until the emergency sirens went on; at that stage, under procedure, we promptly took every kid with us, and reached together the gathering point.
Q:How many kids were you in charge of?
A:Nine.We were in charge of nine kids.
Q:Heavy responsibility, I’d say!
A:I wasn’t on my own, actually. Me, together with the team, coordinated pretty well. Guglielmo was with me, our aim, was to take the kids back to their families, thing we succeded to, fortunately.
Q:What happened when every kid was in safe hands?
A:We thought to make safe ourselves too, reaching our gathering point, just in time to ship our lifeboat .
Q:Could you describe the context in which operations took place?
A:When we were going to bring the kids back to their relatives, it was all chaos. Everyone panicked, there were people falling everywhere, unable to stand , crying for help…it hasn’t been easy to find the kids’ parents.
Q:Hard to keep control !! How did you manage?
A:You need to be in control of what you do in such a situation like that. We are taught how to in the training we’re given every week. If it we were no told to leave the ship, I would have thought it was just another training operation.
Q:According to your experience, can you tell us if you perceived that the reassurances from the captain, actually, were trying to hide something seriously bad going on?
A:No.I totally relied on the captain, and on what he was saying. I really believed that something was wrong with the main supply, that’s it. After all, unless we are told to leave the boat, we must follow the procedures, and fulfil with what we are told to do.
Q:What will you keep in mind from that night?
A:Let alone the absolute fear depicted on the passengers’ faces, the immense humanity shown from the islanders, who promptly rescued ,and generously helped everyone.