Costa Allegra: the brother and sister on the stricken liners

Remarkably, Mrs Thomas’ son James, 19, had been working on the Costa Concordia
when it capsized off the Italian coast in January, killing 32 people. He was
hailed a hero after helping pull passengers to safety.

Mrs Thomas said that her son had been “stunned” by the latest
incident.

“It’s brought it all back and he’s very worried about his sister,”
she said.

“I really didn’t think disaster could strike twice. Of all the ships that
are sailing in the ocean, the two that have come into difficulties in the
last few weeks have been the two that my children were on.”

She said she heard the news about the Allegra in an email from a one of
Rebecca’s friends.

“It told me the ship was on fire and that it had been extinguished in a
couple of paragraphs so it was bittersweet news,” she said.

“I just can’t believe it’s happening all over again it’s like a
nightmare, especially in the space of six weeks.”

Mrs Thomas, from Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, said she was confident that
Rebecca would be a valuable asset on-board the stricken ship.

“I think she will be coping well – she’s very strong-minded and will make
the best of a bad situation,” she said.

“I’m sure she will keep smiling but will also be very glad to get off.”

Her brother James acted
as a “human climbing frame”
after the Concordia disaster
to help save lives as the ship sank.

Mrs Thomas said that dancing was “what they both always wanted to do”
and had both received diplomas at Leicester College of Arts.

But whilst the latest drama is unlikely to deter her daughter from performing
on ships again, she said James had been “unnerved” by the
Concordia experience.

“Becki has always wanted to travel as well as dance,” she said. “She
said to me ‘I could go backpacking, but why bother when I can do it in more
luxury?’

“I think this might be the end for James though, he had a big ordeal and
has already turned down one offer of a job on a Norwegian cruise ship. He
doesn’t feel he can get on board a ship in the near future.”

Meanwhile fellow Costa Allegra dancer Joshua Cartlidge’s mother Jane said she
was anxious about her son going to sea after the Costa Concordia tragedy.

“You think of all the cruise liners in the world, it wouldn’t happen to a
ship that your son’s on and particularly when something’s already happened
to another Costa ship,” she said.

“After that happened, I asked him what he would have done and he said he
had absolutely no idea.

“He was shocked that they said everyone was panicking and there was chaos
because they have emergency runs on Allegra all the time and are very on the
ball with safety.”

She said she last spoke to her son, 23, from Congleton, Cheshire, on Sunday.

“There are four female dancers from the UK and Josh and another male
dancer called Jose,” she said. “They’ve been sailing for three
months around Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles – they’ve been skydiving
and lying on the most amazing beaches.

“He absolutely loves his job and will be devastated at this.”

She added that her son and other staff on board would be working hard to keep
passengers calm.

“The Allegra dancers are really like a family,” she said. “They
love the life, they love the job and will carry on doing it, I’m sure.

“Knowing them, they will be doing all they can, they will be a calming
influence on the ship.

“We heard that when they sent a helicopter over they could see people
sleeping on the deck and some people in the pool. I immediately thought: ‘I
just bet that’s my son’.”

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