Greg and Doris Smith welcome daughter Sarah back to Okanagan after long jouney homte
Pix above from CTV
Photo and story from Kelowna Courier
Local girl rescued off coast of Brazil to return home this week
Sarah Smith, the Oliver teen who spent as long as 40 hours in a lifeboat off the coast of Brazil, is expected to be reunited with her mother and sister today when she arrives at Kelowna airport.
An official with West Island College International of Lunenburg, N.S., which operates the Class Afloat program, said students, staff and crew of the SV Concordia are in final meetings prior to their departures from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The doomed tall ship carrying 42 Canadians, many as young as 16, made international headlines last week when it sank. They were later rescued by a Philippine cargo boat.
Sarah‘s mother, Doris, spoke briefly with her daughter Saturday morning, nearly 72 hours after the sinking, and then had a 30-minute conversation late Saturday evening.
The Canadians were scheduled to arrive in Toronto today and are expected to be greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“Sarah was happy, healthy, laughing and in disbelief that this actually happened,” said Doris. “She is praising Captain Bill (Curry) and is hoping that the media is not blaming him in any way.
“She says, ’He was our saviour.‘ She can‘t say enough good things about the crew. You could hear the sincerity and enthusiasm in her voice.”
Doris said her daughter escaped the doomed Concordia ship with only a bathing suit, tank top and shorts.
Throughout this ordeal, Doris, a teacher at Southern Okanagan Secondary School, has managed to maintain her sense of humour.
She asked her daughter if she had any special requests for when she arrives at the airport. Sarah only asked for a Dairy Queen sundae.
“I think we can arrange that,” she said.
Class Afloat CEO Nigel McCarthy said the survivors have spent much of the last day replacing items that went down with the ship, including clothing and travel documents such as passports. He said they have also had meetings with councillors and medical personnel.
McCarthy said all that remains at this point is to get the students “into the arms of their parents as quickly as we can.”
The three-masted vessel sank in rough seas on Wednesday, leaving the crew clinging to life rafts for up to 40 hours before they were rescued by navy and merchant vessels. The ship was on a five-month voyage that allows students in Grades 11 and 12 and the first year of college to study while sailing around the world. There were 48 students on board – 42 from Canada – while others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.