Let Me Survive
A True Story of Tragic Loss of Life at SeaBy Louise Longo
160 pp. 1996. Hardcover. $17.95ISBN 1 57409 006 2
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On September 30, 1994, Louise Longo, her husband Bernard, and their five-year-old daughter, Gaëlla, left from Rochefort, France 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. They had hardly any food and very little water. No boat appeared. Bernard, who had been injured while getting into the raft, died on October 11. For two weeks, Louise fought hunger, thirst, and despair; trying to keep Gaëlla alive. But by the time rescue finally arrived, only Louise had survived.
Louise Longo’s terse words reflect the agony, guilt, and rage of the lone survivor who stands accused after her ordeal.
“This book is more than the testimony of a true drama; it is, for Louise, an escape from the nightmare and also her plea to justify her strong desire to survive.”—Moteur Boat
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