EWARD FOR VALOUR?
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At least 200 people died in the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster. If it were not for owner-driver Larry O'Brien, the death toll would have been even higher — but he's still fighting for adequate compensation for his lost truck.
• It happened over a year ago but lorry driver Larry O'Brien can remember the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster as though it were yesterday.
"When the ferry went over, the lights went out. I was on the middle passenger deck with everybody else. The boat was on its side which makes you completely disorientated. There were people shouting and screaming. For 15 minutes I was convinced it was all over."
Eventually O'Brien, a non-swimmer, managed to escape by clinging to a fire hose and clambering up to a hatch — and there he stayed, to rescue at least 30, maybe as many as 50 people by pulling them up a rope. So far, about 200 people who died in the Herald have been accounted for, but Larry is convinced that many more were lost.
"The second it happened, there were an unbelievable number of people sitting by the window looking out because we'd just left port. When the water rushed in there were many people just sucked out. There were some found — in fact they found another body just before Christmas — but I reckon there must be many more who are still not found."
SHRUGS OFF PRAISE
O'Brien shrugs off any praise for his action: "I never saw myself as a hero," he says, "and I still don't. What happened that night was that for fifteen minutes I was fully convinced I was going to die."
Nonetheless, O'Brien's valour was recognised by Goodyear Tyres last year, in the form of the company's first European Highway Hero award.
As part of the award he was presented with a cheque for 5,000 dollars by Goodyear's chairman Robert Mercer at a special ceremony in front of 150,000 people at the Nascar Daytona 500 Stockcar race in Florida last February. O'Brien and his wife Cindy attended the event as part of a holiday paid for by Goodyear. After a week at Daytona Beach, Disney World and the Epcot Centre, the memories of that night might have begun to recede — but one thing continually reminds him of the disaster; his Ford Transcontinental which went down with the Herald was not insured for marine loss.
Of course O'Brien admits it was a mistake not to be covered for marine loss, but he feels that Townsend Thoresen's negligence should make them liable to pay adequate compensation.
"They said that all they have to pay out under the Atlas Convention, which is covered by the Haig Vtzby rules, passed in 1964, is £2,900 for a lost vehicle. They eventually said that since it was such a bad accident, they'd pay out £5,900. My truck was worth about £15,000." That is in addition to loss of earnings since the disaster and lost personal belongings that he reckons come to £2,500.
"A few weeks ago they made an offer of £5,900 with the truck returned as well," says O'Brian. "As scrap it's probably worth 2500 at the most," he says. "If I accept the £5,900, they say they'll release it free of charge and pay the ferry to Dover. Up until now I haven't accepted their offer. Townsend Thoresen were proved negligent in the enquiry so I think they should pay more. If it were an Act of God it would be different, I'd accept it — but it wasn't.
"When I got home after the boat went down, I had no truck and no job and my wife was expecting our second child," he says. "In the beginning I was happy enough to get off the ferry alive, but I had my solicitors lodge a claim against Townsend Thoresen within two days. We heard nothing for six months."
The trailer belonged to Transcontinental of Rosslare, which is pursuing a separate claim for compensation. According to O'Brien they have also been offered 25,900.
MPs APPROACHED
He is now employed by Transcontinental, as a staff driver rather than as an independent. He looked into the possibility of hiring a vehicle but found that hiring in Ireland is very expensive. The Road Haulage Association in Ireland is backing him the whole way, he says, "and I've also approached politicians in Ireland and they too are trying to help me." Six Irish MPs have initiated a fund to help him.
Today, over a year since the disaster, O'Brian remains philosophical: "People ask me if I thought of my wife and family during that time when I thought I was a goner. They ask what other thoughts passed my mind. Well, the wife and family didn't pass through my mind. What passed through my mind was how to get out. After I got out was when I thought of my wife and family.
"I sometimes used to worry about things, but I don't anymore. Not after living through that."
CI by Ken Rogers