need to add title here

Live To Tell: Black Wave

February 28, 2009 5:43 AM

In full: A shipwreck on the high seas forces a woman to make an unthinkable choice: save her husband or her children? Jean Silverwood tells her family's story on "Live To Tell."

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by Stephen_Wonder May 24, 2013 6:34 AM EDT
What a dreadful shame that the rest of the world doesn't have a medivac helicopter on stand-by within 15 minutes of all parts of the Pacific to specifically cater for this "it's all about me mum". How inconsiderate of the islanders to have only limited English language skills.

How can just one person be so ungrateful that they, having put themselves into the middle of nowhere, have her own and her family's lives saved be so demanding of what services should have been available for their sole use.

Imagine if you took her parking spot!

Jean's humour was wonderful though. Her stateroom was mentioned several times. Obviously it wasn't a room, it was a stateroom of all things! Wow, I do hope we're all good enough to share space with her on this planet.
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by Skittles76 April 3, 2013 7:40 PM EDT
This amazed me. How brave the son got, staying so calm and knowing what to do...I think i would have freaked out! It was really heart warming, and I'm so glad they were all ok.
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by delilah7777 February 15, 2013 6:38 PM EST
Absolutely phenomenal story!! This is very positive, and shows just how much we can accomplish if we put our passion into our life.
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by mojtala January 25, 2013 8:51 PM EST
Thans CBS for having this great episode here. This one, unlike, all other I have watched is not about death and misery. It is not about people who try their best to get life of their closest ones and hide it. It is about LIFE! and the great endeavor of a family and all rescue and supporting people to help a person live and a family rescued. Thanks to all you great nice people. You are lights in this dark world for hope.
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by Hansnow June 26, 2011 10:22 PM EDT
Amazing!!!!!
The first question that comes to mind is "how could you be that close to a reef, putting your whole family at risk, and not know it". We are talking about modern navigation with inexpensive GPS and other high tech equipment that can pin point your location. Plus.... Anyone involving their family in this should be able to locate their position with old school dead reckoning, should all the electronics fail. Why did this program sugar coat it and not ask such obvious questions about how they got in this position? This guy (and probably his wife, since she should not have taken her kids on this adventure if she was not fully capable of navigating, should something happen to her husband) is completely reckless and negligent in putting them at such risk.
This was not an act of nature as someone suggested. This was negligence. An act of nature would be a storm that blows you off course after knocking out your electronics. You then take measures to make sure you are note sailing into reefs, rocks land, etc.
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by JUSTSHARING June 17, 2011 8:01 PM EDT
For all of those people who keep complaining that the medal of bravery should have been given to Ben, the son: think about the fact that we are watching a movie that the French authorities were not privy to when that medal was given to John. Hmmm...
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by JUSTSHARING June 17, 2011 6:50 PM EDT
Certainly, the dad feels bad enough and has to live with the consequences of his choices, but perhaps his dream created better people in his children displaying courage and fortitude they might never have known they possessed. Everything happens for a reason and instead of spewing more guilt on the dad, it might be more productive to look at the opportunities he wanted his children to experience. The dad did not create the deadly situation; that was an act of nature. I know of a family who did the EXACT same thing and sailed around the world for two years and an act of nature did NOT happen to them. Their children and family had a wonderful experience that opened up their education in ways not otherwise possible. These tragedies are not necessarily common. John Silverwood should not be presented as a selfish person and you're being harsh and hard on a man already suffering enough. No one has a crystal ball. Ultimately, they all survived and it brought their family together and they certainly know what they're made of; something they would not have learned otherwise.
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by born2draw June 15, 2011 9:11 PM EDT
Like so many of you the medal issue is hard to swallow, the son was his reward. As a parent of grown children what really goes against my grain is the fact this was "His Dream." It's all about what he wants, this would have never happened if he had put his family first. As parents we are given our children as gifts from God, there is no way my dream of sailing around the world would put them at risk. Yes, I will take a bullet, lay down my life for theirs, but just because my dream is to see Monet's Gardens means I must drag then along. (example) It's good to remember it's not about "us" it's not about "me." Get your mind off yourself, the Dad made a choice and it wasn't a good one.
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by chlaing May 11, 2011 9:34 PM EDT
I agree that folks need to have compassion, but I also agree that the father should not have received a medal for bravery, heroism, or anything of the sort (and I suspect he feels the same way). The son, Ben, should have received the medal, as he, at least as the story is told here, seems to have kept his wits about him much better than even his own mother. Ben saved his father's life and showed true bravery is preparing the tourniquet and in diving into the water to make a run for the reef. I don't think the parents are somehow to be blamed, except insofar as they got off course, which can happen to the best of sailors. We were never told of the father's sailing experience (in terms of navigating the entire ocean), but I would hope he had plenty of hours out on the high seas before taking his family on an around-the-world trip. Good story; glad it all worked out for them.
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by christinevoge May 10, 2011 11:44 AM EDT
What an incredible, loving and courageous family! I can find no reason to critisize the father for wanting to share his dream with his wife and children. Their adventure may well have been completed without incident. We can't stop living our lives to the full because of what might happen. I like turning corners myself.
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