Let Me Survive

On September 20, 1994, Louise Longo, her husband, Bernard, and their five-year-old daughter, Gaella, left Rochefort, France, to go on a three-week cruise. On the night of October 5, a storm started in the dangerous Bay of Biscay. In the breaking seas, Bernard was afraid that the sailboat would sink and decided they would be safer in the liferaft. The Spanish coast was only 40 miles away; he was sure they would be rescued. But fate was against them. No rescue came, and Bernard, who had been hurt getting into the raft, died on October 11. For two weeks, Louise and Gaella managed to live on, but by the time rescue finally arrived, Louise was the only survivor.