On This Morning, a US reporter sobbed as he recounted his own experience investigating the Titanic debris in a submersible.
It comes as time is running out for the five passengers who are still stuck in the Titan sub after embarking on a voyage to inspect the sunken ship on Sunday (June 18).
Their oxygen levels are now believed to have depleted, and a rescue attempt is still continuing in the hopes of finding people onboard.
Dr Michael Guillen recounted his experience with Holly Willoughby and Dermot O’Leary on Thursday (June 22), stating his journey was initially in aid of ‘commemorating the victims who lost their lives’ on the Titanic.
He was the first TV journalist to explore the wreck aboard a Russian submersible, and he almost died in the year 2000.
‘The problems really started when we started going towards the stern,’ he recalled, saying he was focused on the propeller which ‘stuck out like a sore thumb’.
‘It was very shiny, very large, compared to the shades of grey that are down there, it’s almost like being on a lunar surface.
‘And then I sense that my sub is accelerating, which struck me as odd. We should be decelerating, we’re approaching this huge propeller.’
Dr. Michael went on to say that he was later informed that the sub had become entangled in an underwater current.
‘They do exist down there, believe it or not. And it just slammed us, we somehow got wedged behind the blades of the propeller, which is much larger than our sub, and the inverted poop deck.
‘We saw these huge chunks of the Titanic coming down on us and we knew almost immediately after a moment of confusion like, “What just happened?” it was like being in a car wreck. You’re driving along and it’s a beautiful sunny day, then boom, all of a sudden, you’re thrust into this.
‘We all fell silent because we didn’t want to disturb the pilot. He was at the edge of his seat at that point, really trying to communicate with the mothership in Russian. We didn’t know what he was saying, but we could tell from the intonation that we were in real, serious trouble.’
When asked by Holly if there was ever a point where he thought he wouldn’t make it out alive, Dr Michael replied: ‘Until then, everything was going fine and you almost forget where you are. You’re so focused on seeing this famous ship that you can’t believe you’re actually down there, sensing the presence of the people whose lives were lost. It’s very palpable, you can feel their spirit.
‘This came out of nowhere. When that happened, my brain went into, ok, let’s solve this problem.
‘But very quickly I realised, there are no ways out of here. You’re under two and a half miles of water in the middle of nowhere, you can’t just call the tow service to tow you out. That was a hard pill for me to swallow and it hit me like a brick wall.’
The announcer then broke down in tears as he talked about his wife and how he might never see her again.
‘At that point, I knew this was the end of the road for me,’ he said solemnly, saying he was stuck underwater for about 30 minutes but it felt like ‘eternity’.
‘Every minute that you’re buried alive in this tin can, it stretches out for eternity. You lose any sense of time.’
Dr. Michael was rescued and was visibly moved as he described his emotions.
‘I’ll never forget it, the pilot turned around with a big smile and in his thick Russian accent, he said, “No problem” and I thought we were literally dead in the water.
‘I realised, “Oh my God, we’ve been given a second chance of life.” I was ready to cross over. That’s a feeling I’ll never forget.’
As he compared his own terrifying ordeal with what the current missing passengers have been going through, Dr Michael said: ‘For the past 72 hours, it’s been hell for me, to be honest with you.
‘I feel like I’m down there with them. I know what they went through. I feel it, I’m very empathetic, and I was hoping that they would experience that second chance of life that I did and I almost feel guilty talking to you this morning about how I was given that second chance.
‘It’s pretty remote that they’re gonna be given a second chance and it’s a terrible way to go. My only hope and prayer is that they experience that sense of peace that I did when I was ready to let go of my life.’
Holly and Dermot then apologised for the awful ordeal Dr Michael had, with Dermot telling him: ‘We start every show with, “We can’t imagine what they’re going through”, but you’re one of the only people in the world that can.’
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
