Woman Who Shot Alarming Video From Stranded Viking Cruise Ship Returns To Rio Vista Home
RIO VISTA (CBS13) — The Rio Vista woman who shot terrifying videos aboard the Viking cruise ship that signaled a mayday off the coast of Norway is finally back home.
Alexus Sheppard's videos showed the world what passengers on that ship were facing. Twenty-one million people have watched the videos she tweeted out from the ship.
"It was like, well, I hope we don't die, but we might," Sheppard said.
Sheppard and her wife Deborah Perry were both onboard as the cruise took the terrifying turn in the middle of a storm. As massive waves slammed into the shop, the engines suddenly stopped.
RELATED: Rio Vista Woman Goes Viral Tweeting About Being Stranded On Viking Sky Cruise
As Sheppard started sending videos out on her Twitter feed and a passenger sitting nearby received a text from his granddaughter.
"His granddaughter is texting him back saying, 'I just saw this tweet, grandpa is that the boat you're on?'" Perry said. "And he's like, 'yeah.'"
More families contacted Sheppard directly.
"'Have you seen John Smith' or 'have you seen Mary Jane so-and-so,'" Sheppard said. "I was getting messages on Twitter asking for the specific people. I could talk to those people in a reassuring manner, without knowing the specifics."
READ ALSO: Official: Lack Of Oil Caused Norway Cruise Ship's Engines To Fail
On a ship stuck in a storm, facing evacuations, Sheppard and her phone became a beacon of light.
"United States, Norway, Germany, Russia, France, I mean they were coming in from everywhere," Sheppard said.
Sharing the scary, but the successful rescue of this cruise ship vacation, that turned into a wild adventure.
