Hero mum and baby survived superyacht sinking after falling asleep on deck, doctor claims

21 August 2024, 10:03

A British mother and her baby who survived the sinking of a superyacht off the coast of Sicily made it out alive because of their location, a doctor has revealed.

Charlotte Golunski, 35, survived the sinking of superyacht Bayesian as she clung onto her 1-year-old baby girl after the boat was struck by a freak tornado just after 5am on Monday.

The Brit was picked up alongside fourteen others in a life raft, after the vessel disappeared beneath the waves.

Now, it's been revealed that the mother was in fact asleep on the deck at the time of the tornado.

The head of paediatric care at the Di Cristina Children's Hospital in Palermo, who treated the pair, has now revealed that Ms Golunski was away from her partner at the time of the storm.

The mother and child survived, sustaining only bruises in the tragedy, with her partner, James Emsley - who was asleep on the other side of the ship at the time of the tornado - also surviving.

"She said that she was sleeping with the child on deck while her husband was a little further away in another part of the boat and she felt the oscillations of the ship," Dr Domenico Cipolla told Sky news.

"In an instant it was dark and she found herself in the water in just a few minutes.

"She said she tried to hold on to the child but lost the child from her grip for three seconds," the doctor revealed.

The Oxford graduate was aboard the boat celebrating Mr Lynch’s acquittal in an $11 billion (£8.5 billion) fraud case.

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The tragedy left one man dead - Chef Recaldo Thomas - with another six, including Mr Lynch, still missing, as divers continue to search the sunken vessel.

Ms Golunski was among 22 people on board the vessel when a freak tornado struck it off the coast of Palmero, with Italian outlets describing how she held her daughter Sofia "afloat with all [her] strength".

"The little girl was crying, she was very disoriented, she looked around and her mother was very sad and worried, especially for her husband who was in another hospital," Dr Cipolla said.

"She wanted to know if everything was OK and asked after the missing people because nobody knew what happened to them."

She was crying. She was very sad, she kept asking us about her husband and the others."

Mr Emsley, who was treated at another hospital, "hugged and comforted" the mother and child when reunited, the doctor explained.

Ms Golunski was said to be "very sad" for those still missing.

It comes as the search for survivors aboard the stricken vessel continues, as divers continue to search 50m below the water's surface.