In 1956 the SS Andrea Doria which was a beautiful ocean liner from Italy was making its way form Europe to the eastern coast of the United States. This was considered to be Italy’s largest, safest and fastest ship. On July 25th of that year it was heading east for the US when it ran into heavy fog. Following procedure the captain slowed down the ship and turned on their fog whistle.
Another ship known as the Swedish ocean liner called the SS Stockholm was nearby. They entered the fog as well but were unaware of Andreas position. Both vessels misinterpreted what they were seeing. By the time they got too close the collision was imminent. The bow hit the ship and penetrated over 40 feet of the ship. The Stockholm ran into Andrea and the impact killed 46 people on Andrea and 5 people on Stockholm.
They chose Edward Morgan to cover the story on television. Unbeknownst to his coworkers his 14 year old daughter, Linda Morgan was on the ship. Despite his credible burden he got on the air and shared the news in a stoic manner and didn’t mention his daughter or get emotionally thrown off. He was even told that his daughter was missing and presumed dead before this broadcast. He was told to wait for more information.
A short time later another story began to develop. Apparently a girl who was asleep on one of the rooms of the Andrea Doria was in a room that was hit by the SS Stockholm. She woke up after the crash and didn’t know where she was. She began yelling out for her mother. Meanwhile, a man on the Stockholm heard the yells and went towards her. Perched on the destroyed bow of the Stockholm was a bed. On that bed was a relatively unhurt 14 year old girl. Linda Morgan.
When Stockholm hit the Doria it hit her room directly and she was sleeping in bed. It turns out that the ship quite literally scooped her bed up on the front and when it came back out it brought her bed with it. Her father, Edward Morgan found out that his daughter was the ‘miracle girl’ from this story. He found out how hard it was to deliver the news especially when it was about someone you love.
She would recover from minor injuries, however she suffered enormously from survivors guilt as her step-father and half-sister were killed in the crash.
