North East diver tells of Indonesian drifting ordeal

Jun 9 2008 by Jule Wilson, The Journal

A DIVER from the North East has spoken of her ordeal after drifting for hours in treacherous waters off the Indonesian coast.

Diving instructor Kath Mitchinson, originally from Tynemouth, spent two nights stranded on a remote beach on Rinca Island 20 miles south of her original dive site in the Komodo National Park.

The experienced dive master became stranded along with two other Britons, Charlotte Allin, 24, and her 30-year-old boyfriend James Manning, a former Royal Marine, both from Devon.

The trio were rescued on Saturday after being missing for more than 40 hours, along with Frenchman Laurent Pinel and Swedish tourist Elena Neradairen. They are all being treated for severe dehydration, exhaustion and sunburn.

The group disappeared at about 8am on Thursday after strong currents swept them away from their pick-up boat.

Now able to sit up in her hospital bed on the neighbouring island of Flores, 250 miles from Bali, where she runs Reefseekers diving school with her partner Ernie Lewandowski, Ms Mitchinson said she had never given up hope of being found alive.

She said: “I’m so happy to be home.”

Ms Mitchinson, who is believed to be originally from Tynemouth but who has also lived in Carlisle, was forced to eat raw shellfish to survive once she had found land.

And after nine hours being battered by huge waves in the Indian Ocean, she also had to fight off a Komodo dragon, a creature which can grow to 10 metres long and which has a poisonous bite.

Mr Lewandowski said yesterday: “It has been quite an ordeal but they are all safe. That’s the most important thing.

“They had a miraculous escape, but the fact is, they are all experienced divers. This was a freak accident. There was nobody at fault.”

The couple used to run WPG Marine Centre in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, before leaving for Indonesia 15 years ago.

Their former colleague Bill Pocklington, of Cresswell Avenue, North Shields, said Ms Mitchinson once looked after a group of local divers after their boat ran into difficulty off the Tyneside coast.

His wife Helen added: “It’s brilliant news that they’ve been found. It’s lovely there’s a happy ending. Kath and Ernie are both dive masters and she’s a lovely girl.

“If you’re going to get in trouble at sea she’s a good one to be with.”

Laurent Pinel said the group had survived in the water by remaining as a group and tying their diving vests together to preserve energy.

He went on: “We had nothing to eat. We ate some kind of mussels we scraped from the rocks. On the beach a Komodo dragon came among us on Saturday and we had to throw rocks to scare it away.”

Mr Lewandowski added: “They did all the right things. They stayed afloat in the surf and kept hold of that in huge waves out in the Indian Ocean, which were crashing over their heads.

“They were in dangerous open ocean, next stop Antarctica. Anybody who became a weak link was made to have strength. That’s how they all survived.”