Deepwater Horizon survivor - I had a death wish for a long time after the rig blew Mike Williams stood, badly injured and petrified, hundreds of feet up at the top of the Deepwater Horizon, knowing his only hope of seeing his wife and daughter again was to jump from the burning oil rig. His will to live gave him the courage to leap, to clear the ring of burning oil on the water below, and make it out alive. But 1. 1 other men had died, and the loss of his friends left Mike suicidal for years after. He says: “I had a death wish for a long time, I just wanted to be with them.“It felt like I had cheated death.”Mike’s memories of the disaster are at the heart of the new movie, Deepwater Horizon. Today, sitting in a London hotel, Mike – played by Mark Wahlberg in the film – calmly relives the night of April 2. Bolts holding the pipes together fired around like bullets. The oil then exploded, transforming oil- soaked objects into rockets, which launched around the rig.
Happy Birthday Werner, with "Herzog by Ebert" Chaz's Journal Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon (Photo: Getty) “At the moment I jumped from the rig I went from a rescuer to a survivor. A dramatization of the disaster back in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon created a giant explosion, which created the worst oil.
Mike, the chief electronics technician, was in his workshop when the blast hit. Mike Williams made it out alive, but at a cost (Image: Getty)He says: “I had my hand on a metal door and it blew me 2.
I had a broken ankle, broken wrists, four broken ribs. I had three lacerations to my forehead, one across my cheek and I nearly cut my finger off.”As he tried desperately to get workmates to safety, he saw horrific injuries, men with chunks of their necks blown away. One of the most badly hurt was Jimmy Harrell, played by Kurt Russell in the film. Harrell had warned BP bosses that drilling at a depth of 3. But they continued. Mike says: “He was in his room, naked in the shower, when the explosion hit.
Deepwater Horizon (2016) Movie Photo Clip
Deepwater Horizon (2016) Movie Photo Stills
His entire body was filled with shards of fibreglass when the shower walls exploded.“When I saw him, his eyes were full of fibreglass, he couldn’t see, he was throwing up blood and both his feet were bleeding.”Mike helped Jimmy into the control room, where he tried to stop the fire. The film Deepwater Horizon with Mark Wahlberg in role as Mike. But the crew soon realised there was nothing they could do but abandon the rig. Mike stayed on board trying to help everyone on to the lifeboats, which then had to leave without him. His only hope was to climb up the rig, towards the flames, to get the height he needed to jump over the water that was covered in burning oil.
He jumped far enough, and was rescued by a lifeboat. Read More. The fire blazed for two days before the rig sank, taking 1. Cult Classics Movies Souvenir (2017) there. The well it had opened up off the coast of Louisiana gushed oil for almost two months. The pollution covered 6. England and Wales. The political fallout was equally toxic. President Barrack Obama called on BP to stop the spill and take responsibility.
Five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after the explosion (Image: Reuters)A brown pelican coated in heavy oil shows the extent of the environmental disaster (Image: Getty)He made a point of referring to the company as British Petroleum, as if to divert the blame away from the US. The disaster spilled five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and as well as the deaths, left 1.
Mike, who was the last man to leave the rig alive, suffered post traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt, which made him suicidal. He says: “I didn’t count how many times I tried to take my own life. I would get into my truck, put my pedal to the floor and not let off. I just didn’t care. Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon (Image: Getty)“At the moment I jumped from the rig I went from a rescuer to a survivor.
I thought, . But when I got back, for the first two years I couldn’t leave my house.” After battling so hard to survive and see his wife, Felicia – played by Kate Hudson in the movie – and daughter Sydney, he now wished on them the grief the families of the dead men were . Mike, now 4. 4 and living in Dallas, says: “The other widows were like, .
I’ll go get in my truck and drive at 2. He refused to take any medication because he did not want to “mask the pain”. Mike Williams talks about his experience (Image: Getty)Fortunately, he turned a corner, but only at the last moment. He says: “It was the moment my wife was leaving.
I called the psychologist and said.