My legs felt heavy; it was all I could do to keep them moving. I knew if I cramped up, I could not swim, and if I could not swim, I would sink and die. I clung to that suitcase like a frightened child clings to his mother’s midsection. I was trembling with cold and my eyes were about to shut for good when I spotted an orange raft, drifting in and out of the waves. Someone on board was waving a flashlight.

I tried to yell “Help!” but I had swallowed so much salt water, it burned my throat to make a sound. I kicked toward the raft, but could not move fast enough while holding the suitcase. I had to let it go. I didn’t want to. Strange as it sounds, I felt a certain devotion to it.

But then the flashlight shone again, and this time I heard a voice yell, “Here! Over here!” I released my grip and started swimming, my head above the surface so I could keep sight of the beam. A wall of water rose and crashed. My body twisted wildly and I lost all sense of direction. No! I yelled to myself. Not when I am so close! I broke the surface just as a new wave hit me again. Once more, I was spun and yanked like a fish on a line. When I resurfaced, I gasped for air, my throat burning. I turned my head left and right—nothing. Then I turned backward.

The raft was right behind me.

I grabbed the safety rope along its side. Whoever had been waving that flashlight was gone. I can only imagine he or she was thrown off by those waves. I tried to look for a body in the water, but another wave began curling into form, so I gripped the rope with both hands, and instantly I was tossed again. I lost all sense of up or down. I squeezed that rope so hard my fingernails broke the flesh of my palms. But when I burst through the surface, I was still holding on.

I pulled myself along the outside of the raft until I found a handle for boarding. I tried three times to yank myself in. I was so weak, I failed each try. Now another large wave was forming. I didn’t think I could hang on through that one. So I screamed into the darkness, a guttural “EYARRRRGGG!” And with every ounce of strength I had left, I heaved myself over the side and fell onto the black rubber floor, panting like a mad dog.

News

ANCHOR: What you’re seeing is the area of the Atlantic Ocean where the luxury yacht the Galaxy reportedly went down Friday night, some fifty miles off the coast of Cape Verde. Our correspondent Tyler Brewer filed this report.