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WINNER'S WISH
I won a Sun prize trip of a lifetime to the Titanic – now I pray missing crew is found alive
SUN reader Peter Bailey won the prize of a lifetime – to join reporter Martin Phillips on a submersible trip to the Titanic.
Peter, now 59, of Matlock, Derbys, is praying that the crew of the missing tourist sub the Titan are found safe and well.
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Earlier tonight he said: “It doesn’t bear thinking about. I remember my trip with Martin very vividly.
“We were aware of the dangers, that the sub could implode and just vaporise, or that we could get trapped.
“In our case there was a way we could eject part of the sub and float to the surface but I don’t think that’s the case with this sub.
“I just hope in this case there can be a good outcome.
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“My wife Wendy was in tears when I went and in tears when I came back. I feel for those poor families still waiting for news.”
Peter won the trip to the Titanic in a 2001 Sun competition.
He said: “The sub was tiny, no bigger than the inside of a Mini.
“After a little while the sea went from blue to turquoise and then it faded to black.
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“I had a split second of fear as we started but then it went.
“When we arrived on the bottom we rose up across the bow of the Titanic.
“It was amazing, just incredible to see her sitting there.
“We looked into the captain’s cabin and down the empty hole where the grand staircase had been.
“And then we parked on the seabed under one of her propellers.
“I looked up and just thought, this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
“But we were also aware of all those people who had been lost, all those souls around the wreck. It was very sad.”
Peter’s journey to the Titanic took seven and a half hours, with four hours exploring the wreck and debris site.
The former engineer left his wife Wendy and young sons James, seven, and Daniel, back in Matlock when he made the journey two and a half miles below the surface of the Atlantic.
In the days before the family had a mobile phone they had no way of finding out how the trip had gone or if he had returned safely.
Sadly, James passed away from cancer in April, aged just 28.
Peter said: “Both the boys were proud of what I did and I am very proud to have done it.
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“You have one life, you have to make the most of it, and I know that more now than ever.
“I think there are more people who have been to the moon than dived on the Titanic.”
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