15th January 201

Rose Metcalf had to cling to a fire hose tied onto railings to stop herself from falling into the water

Members of a group of British dancers were among the last to leave the stricken Costa Concordia after they stayed behind to help others to safety.
Among them was Rose Metcalf, who let her family know about the dramatic events in a message she left on her father's mobile phone at 3am. She said: 'Hi, Dad. Just ringing to let you know that I am alive and safe and got airlifted out of the cruise ship.
'I don't know what will happen – I don't know how many are dead. I am alive... just. I think I was the last one off.'
Ms Metcalf, who joined the group in October, was in one of the ship's restaurants when disaster struck at just after 9.30pm Italian time. Water started coming in and the lights went out.
She said: 'I was still in my dance clothes. I dashed off to my cabin where I had dry clothes and put them on with a life-jacket.
'I went off to help calm the passengers and do a roll-call. People then started going into the boats.'
As the ship eventually began to list uncontrollably, she and four colleagues who stayed on board used a water hose to tie themselves to a handrail before being rescued by an Italian air force helicopter.
She said: 'By the end, there were about five of us and we were the last to get off. We were getting ready to jump off and swim for it.
'The boat was at 90 degrees. Then the helicopter turned up. Guys came down in harnesses and took us off.'
Ms Metcalf, 22, was then taken to an air force base in Tuscany. She telephoned her father Phil early yesterday morning to let him know she was safe, although after leaving the message it was more than six hours before they spoke to each other.
Another of the eight British dancers, Sarah Hudson, 22, from Warrington, escaped in a lifeboat, from where she phoned her family.

With her friend on the Costa Concordia, Rose said that she was among the last to get off the vessel

Rose was in one of the ship's restaurants when it hit the rocks creating a gaping hole in the side

Ms Hudson said: 'I rang my Dad and said the ship's sinking but there is no problem and don't panic. They thought I was joking because it was Friday the 13th.'
Earlier on the ship, she hadn't immediately understood how bad the situation was. 'I didn't realise there was a problem until the water was coming about my feet. I thought that we had just hit a wave.

At first, Rose's family thought she had been playing a prank on them because it was Friday 13

'I didn't think, until I was off the boat, that we could have died. Usually I am the first person to panic but because I had to calm the passengers, I convinced myself it was going to be all right.'
Her father, also called Phil, last night told how he and his wife Jennie had made contact with their daughter late on Friday.
Mr Hudson said: 'She rang us saying she was on a lifeboat but she was amazingly calm. She had to discard her shoes before she jumped. She told us not to worry and that she was safe.'
He added: 'She has lost all her possessions. Everything she had went down with the ship.'
Kirsty Cook, another British dancer, had to get down a rope ladder to get to safety on another boat.
Her mother Sandra said: 'Thank God she got off safely. She said that she was lucky to be alive and very thankful.'
Also on the vessel was retired accountant Brian Page, 63, who had paid £860 for a seven-day cruise. He was enjoying a seven-course silver service dinner when disaster struck.
He said: 'Soon everything was going everywhere – glasses, plates and cutlery. I was having to grip the table to stop it sliding away. The whole ship was rocking violently from side to side.'
Speaking of the panic on board, he said: 'People were screaming. Women and children were not getting priority at all.' He added: 'I have lost everything including my passport. I only have the clothes I am wearing.'