UK woman tried to swim out to cruise ship in desperate act to reach husband

A 65-year-old British woman told police in Portugal’s Madeira Islands she tried to swim out to her passing cruise ship in the mistaken belief that her husband was on board before being rescued by fishermen after four hours in the sea, an official said.

Susan Brown told maritime police that after a quarrel she and her husband had decided on Saturday to fly home early from their cruise aboard the Marco Polo which had stopped over that day in Madeira, Felix Marques, harbour captain at Madeira’s Funchal port, said.

However, Marques said Brown told police she later lost sight of her husband at Funchal airport after they argued and was “feeling desperate.”