Imagine the worst nightmare of your life. The reason: you don’t know if you’re going to survive or not. It’s cold, black and your incredibly scared. The worst part? You’re not alone in this swirling abyss, you have your ten-month old child desperately clinging and crying to you as you struggle to survive in turbulent seas. The boat, the boat that was meant to be the safest in the world has failed. You try to call out for help but the reality is that hundreds of passengers around you need help too. There’s no hope, you can’t imagine anyone coming. This was the reality for one young woman the night of the worst shipping disaster in years.
All around the world there are still people who are proud to have their heritage be part of the amazing Titanic story. Most are prepared to share their stories with people who have a great interest in this fascinating history. Luckily the young woman, Leah Aks survived her ordeal and has family now that can tell her tale of utter terror.
Shelley Binder is one who happily shared her family’s story with us bringing back to life the characters from the past.
“I am Shelley Binder from Norfolk Virginia. I am a college professor at the University of Tennessee where I have taught for the past 25 years. "
“My Great Grandmother was 18 years old and was traveling with her 10-month-old son ‘filly’ to meet my Great Grandfather in the US. He had emigrated earlier and was setting up a place for her and the baby when they arrived.” ‘Filly’ was the nickname that belonged to Frank or Phillip, her first son who was born on the June 7 1911. Many people were lured to the prospect of America by the promise of hope, freedom and liberty. Many people on-board the Titanic were immigrants that were hoping to find a new and better life in America. Shelley Binder’s great grandmother was in a similar position."
“Her parents enticed her to stay in London longer by offering to pay for her passage to the US if she waited until the ‘safest ship in the world’ was ready for its maiden voyage. The people in third class were interesting because they were mainly immigrants. She did talk about it later in her life but she was so traumatised that she was in and out of the hospital for 11 months.”
Happily her great grandmother was able to survive and bring up her future children. Although it wasn’t without a small hiccup along the way when it came to the naming of her second child… “Her second daughter, my Grandmother, was named Sara Carpathia to honor the ship that saved her but...the nuns in the hospital got it wrong and wrote Sarah Titanic on her birth certificate.”
Pulled from the memories of such a swirling abyss some remnants are saved by a lifeline, a boat over troubled waters that rescued the survivors and the stories to be hear down the generations. Some assemblance of order in the chaos may be restored by discovering these fascinating tales of bravery and in some cases sheer luck in survival.
Head to the link to hear more about this extraordinary woman: Leah Aks
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