Italian cruise ship survivor angry about company's response
SEATTLE -- At least 17 people died last month when the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground and began to sink.
Karen Koise is one of the two Seattle area women who were aboard the ship, and now she's opening up about the ordeal that easily could have killed her.
Almost a month later, Koise said she's still dealing with the injuries she sustained. More importantly, she said it's the emotional wreckage that still lingers.
"I'm angry at Costa," she said of the Italian cruise line company. "I'm not angry at anybody else."
To hear Koise's story is to understand her anger. She doesn't dwell on the ship wreck, but it's hard to forget.
"We had just finished soup, all the sudden you know how you go over a wave and everybody says 'Whooo,' everybody's kind of laughing, then another one toppled people, and the third when it hit, and everything fell," she said. "People are climbing on the floor, bloody because there's broken glass all over on the marble."
Once it was clear something was not right, the ship's claustrophobic hallways became jammed with panicked passengers.
"Then you had the rush and all these people pushing and shoving. They say women and children first. Well, there was no women and children first. The men were pushing the people onto the boats," Koise said. "And crew members were going first. They were gone."
Koise was eventually able to get in a rescue boat, but when cables were broken to free it, the rescue boat listed and 50 people were pitched on top of Koise.
She broke her collarbone, bruised two ribs and popped a screw from a previous back fusion surgery.
Koise, who happens to live part time on a house boat, is also suffering from post traumatic stress, but the therapist she saw recently probably noticed she hasn't lost her sense of humor.
"Well, most people, my friends, are saying 'Are you really going to your boat?' I'm like, yeah! I'm not afraid of my boat. I have control over my boat," she said.
Koise said she's furious with the cruise company for not contacting her to see if she's alright and for the shoddy way the company handled the crisis.
All her belongings from the trip were lost, and Koise said there will be a lawsuit in the future, but she's not sure how it will play out.
Karen Koise is one of the two Seattle area women who were aboard the ship, and now she's opening up about the ordeal that easily could have killed her.
Almost a month later, Koise said she's still dealing with the injuries she sustained. More importantly, she said it's the emotional wreckage that still lingers.
"I'm angry at Costa," she said of the Italian cruise line company. "I'm not angry at anybody else."
To hear Koise's story is to understand her anger. She doesn't dwell on the ship wreck, but it's hard to forget.
"We had just finished soup, all the sudden you know how you go over a wave and everybody says 'Whooo,' everybody's kind of laughing, then another one toppled people, and the third when it hit, and everything fell," she said. "People are climbing on the floor, bloody because there's broken glass all over on the marble."
Once it was clear something was not right, the ship's claustrophobic hallways became jammed with panicked passengers.
"Then you had the rush and all these people pushing and shoving. They say women and children first. Well, there was no women and children first. The men were pushing the people onto the boats," Koise said. "And crew members were going first. They were gone."
Koise was eventually able to get in a rescue boat, but when cables were broken to free it, the rescue boat listed and 50 people were pitched on top of Koise.
She broke her collarbone, bruised two ribs and popped a screw from a previous back fusion surgery.
Koise, who happens to live part time on a house boat, is also suffering from post traumatic stress, but the therapist she saw recently probably noticed she hasn't lost her sense of humor.
"Well, most people, my friends, are saying 'Are you really going to your boat?' I'm like, yeah! I'm not afraid of my boat. I have control over my boat," she said.
Koise said she's furious with the cruise company for not contacting her to see if she's alright and for the shoddy way the company handled the crisis.
All her belongings from the trip were lost, and Koise said there will be a lawsuit in the future, but she's not sure how it will play out.
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