Cruise ship plunge Brit Kay Longstaff says ‘I just want to go home’ as she’s reunited with boyfriend and prepares to head home
Kay Longstaff, an air hostess from Cheltenham, is thought to have jumped off the back of a ship following a drunken row with her boyfriend
A BRIT woman who is thought to have jumped off the back of a cruise ship declared she was ready to go home following an emotional reunion with her partner.
Kay Longstaff, an air hostess from Cheltenham who plunged into the sea following a drunken row with her boyfriend, told medics "what happened has happened" as she prepared to leave hospital.
The 46-year-old survived 10 hours floating in the Adriatic Sea after leaping off the ship on Saturday night as it travelled from Dubrovnik to Venice.
She later credited yoga with keeping her fit enough to survive, and said she sang to keep herself warm while lost at sea.
Hospital director Irena Hrstic today revealed that Kay said: "It has happened, what has happened and I want to come home as soon as possible."
It comes after Kay reportedly had an "emotional and full of love" reunion with her boyfriend, expat Craig Rayment.
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The captain of the rescue ship Cavtat, Lovro Oreskovic, also told daily newspaper Jutarnji List the incident occurred on the last day of Kay's trip.
He said: "She told us it was the last day of her three weeks holidays. We warmed her up, gave her first aid, she took some water, then a soup, an isotonic drunk and a pudding before she fell asleep.
"Before that she asked whether she would need to pay for the expenses of the search. But we calmed her down."
An Italian source yesterday said that cops are working on the theory Kay "most likely jumped" and there was no foul play.
Her dad Ron also told his daughter had been "going through a very hard time" prior to the incident.
When The Sun spoke to him yesterday, he said: "My son rang me last night and said 'it’s on the news' and that was it.
"I’m rather pleased I hadn’t heard she’d fallen into the sea. What I had heard though, was that she’d fallen in and been rescued."
Kay, who works for private jet operator NetJets, has looked after footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger, F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone and other celebs as part of her work duties.
A friend also revealed she "loves to socialise and would never miss the opportunity for a night out or a drink".
She was reported to have lost her mum to cancer when she was a teenager, and the friend said this led to bouts of depression.
An Italian source yesterday told The Sun: "Officers spoke with the woman's partner on the ship when it arrived in Venice.
"We have seen the footage and we are happy there was no foul play involved. The partner was released and no one has been placed under official investigation.
"The footage has been viewed and you can clearly see she was there on her own when she fell. She was not pushed. The theory we are working on is that she most likely jumped.
"A file is being prepared for the local prosecutor who will decide what to do but at the moment it looks like an individual lone action.
"The boyfriend said they had been drinking and they had quarrelled. He went back to his cabin and left her.
"The next thing he knew he was woken by the crew to say they thought she was missing as they had found her bag and belongings."
It comes as cruise ship passenger Eddie Palladino claimed he was woken by alarm bells going off on the ship and an announcement they were on a "search and rescue mission".
Last night Eddie told : "He didn't say anything about an accident and called her a 'jumper'.
"We were woken up by the alarm bells going off and then there was an announcement from the captain.
"He said: 'I'm calling to alert you now that we have a reported jumper off the ship and we're in a search and rescue mission'."
The Daily Mail also reported she suffered an injury to her face when she landed in the sea.
A source with knowledge of the rescue operation told the paper: "She had hypothermia and a haematoma on her right cheek from where she hit the water.
"It was at the very moment that she thought she wouldn’t survive, that was when the boat arrived to save her."
A passenger yesterday told The Sun Online: "She didn't fall off, she jumped off. She took all her kit off and jumped off the side of the ship.
"This is what the crew told us when we were on the ship before disembarking. You can kind of tell by the pictures that she wasn't wearing much when she was rescued."
After her rescue, Kay had told Croatian media: "I fell off the back of the Norwegian Star and I was in the water for about 10 hours. These wonderful guys rescued me."
But multiple passengers came forward to reveal she had been arguing with her partner earlier that evening.
One said she had been drinking and had been "having rows"; with her partner "all day".
He added: "When the police came on to the ship - before letting us get off - they were going around asking after which staff members were serving us alcohol. I think they wanted to know who'd been serving her.
"Her (partner) was looking for her for hours before the alarm was raised that she'd gone overboard."
A second person said Kay and her partner "were arguing", adding: "This is what (the) concierge told us willingly."
A third added: "My wife and I had a cabin just above hers at the back. When the incident was reported by the Captain at 0600, he said that an area in the middle of deck 7 had been sealed off.
"When getting off the boat, seven hours late, a number of passengers were saying there had been a midnight dispute amongst the Longstaff party."
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Meanwhile, a rescuer has revealed how Kay told them how she survived 10 hours in the sea.
They said: "She said the fact that she practices yoga helped her as she was fit. And she said she was singing to not feel cold in the sea overnight."
Photos show the Norwegian Cruise ship has safety railings designed to prevent people from falling overboard which are around four feet high.
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