Woman who survived boat accident that killed her family conquering her fear of water
A woman who survived a tragic boating accident that killed most her family, plans to conquer her paralysing fear of water by plunging into the ocean near where her worst nightmare took place.
Susan Berg was on a boat trip with her parents and 16-year-old brother, Bill, when their vessel sank in Melbourne's Western Port Bay in 1985.
Desperate to find help, the then 15-year-old swam ahead, struggled through shark-infested waters, darkness and rough seas until she reached a deserted French Island and raised the alarm.
The following day, the bodies of her parents and brother were found floating in the bay.
Her two sisters had not gone out on the family outing.
Ms Berg became wracked by survivor guilt, which pushed her down a path of self-destruction and she had looked for solace in sex and party drugs, she told Sydney Morning Herald.
The inspiring woman said she faced further challenges and hardships, including domestic violence.
She became a mother at 20 and underwent counselling but she was still haunted by the tragedy.
Now, 31 years later, the 46-year-old private investigator and mother will race 1.2 kilometres in the Lorne Pier to Pub, which is not far from where the tragic incident took place.
She is overcoming her fears of swimming, water and sharks in a feat that has taken 14 months of preparation.
"I couldn't bring myself to put my head under. The sensation of being surrounded by water was almost too much," she told the Herald Sun.
The sound of waves are terrifying enough for Ms Berg who had once tried to swim a lap of a pool, but froze in fear of putting her head underwater again.
"After four months I wasn't getting anywhere and went to my doctor and asked her if I could take Valium before I swam. She said no,” Ms Berg told the newspaper.
Her coach, Peter Hendriks, has helped Ms Berg overcome her fear and said it was a way for her to feel reunited with her parents and brother.
"God only knows I've done so many things in my life that they wouldn't be proud of, but I know they would be proud of me," she said.
The GMBHA Lorne Pier to Pub swim is organised and run by volunteers from Lorne Surf Life Saving Club and is to take place on January 7.
Her swim has so far raised $25,000 for McAuley Community Services for Women, an organisation that supports 1,000 women and children who have been subjected to domestic violence and homelessness.
To read more of Ms Berg's inspirational story you can purchase her book The Girl Who Lived.
