Yoga and song helped cruise rescue woman

YOGA AND singing helped a British woman survive for 10 hours in the sea after falling from a cruise ship, she is reported to have told a rescuer.

The passenger, named in reports as Kay Longstaff, was pulled from the Adriatic Sea on Sunday morning, having fallen from the back of the

as it sailed 60 miles off the Croatian coast on Saturday.

The 46-year-old said she felt very lucky to have survived the ordeal and thanked her rescuers as she was taken to a hospital in the Croatian town of Pula.

Rescuers told reporters she had said her fitness level, built up through her yoga practice, had helped her and she had been singing to keep her mind off the cold sea overnight. Ms Longstaff reportedly fell from an aft deck of the Norwegian Cruise Line vessel as it sailed for Venice late on Saturday night. She told Croatian news channel HRT: “I fell off the back of the and I was in the water for 10 hours, so these wonderful guys rescued me.” She added: “I am very lucky to be alive. I was sitting at the back of the deck.” Lovro Oreskovic, captain of the Cavtat Coast Guard rescue ship, said they were “extremely happy for saving a human life”. The Croatian Coast Guard said the ship and an aircraft launched a search at around 6.30am local time on Sunday after Ms Longstaff fell just before midnight on Saturday. She was found around a mile from where she fell.