Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, in which 193 passengers and crew lots their lives. One person who will never forget the events of that fateful night is Sonia Harwood, from Gillingham. She spoke to chief reporter Jenni Horn.

The terrifying moment Sonia Harwood was dragged under water as the Herald of Free Enterprise sank is one which will haunt her forever.

Sonia watched her husband Michael die, on the day they should have been celebrating her 48th birthday.

Mick was one of the 193 people to perish as the ferry went down on March 6, 1987. It capsized just minutes after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, when the bow doors to the car deck were left open.

Sonia still clearly remembers the moment disaster struck.

She said: "I had sat down at the back of the boat while Mick went to the bar. I felt the boat lurch and the lights flickered. Then the light went out completely.

"I started rising up and the other side of the boat, where Mick was, started going down. I remember seeing all the glasses from the bar falling and water started coming in. Mick went down under the water.

"I was holding on as the boat continued to rise up, but then I couldn't hold on any longer and I fell down into the water. I remember hitting all the chairs as I went down.

"People were walking on my head trying to escape. I remember seeing all the life-jackets floating past and people holding up lighters. I stayed above water as long as I could but then I went under."

As Sonia struggled to stay afloat, with cracked ribs and a bad gash on her leg, she was pulled from the water by her hair by Irish lorry driver, Larry O'Brien, who dragged several passengers to safety.

One of her most haunting memories is watching the divers searching the water as she waited to be rescued.

She said: "I could see my husband in the water, I saw one of the divers lift his head up and then let him go. I knew then that he was dead."

Sonia spent a month in hospital after the tragedy. She later had to give up her job as a theatre technician at Medway Maritime Hospital because she couldn't bear to be closed in and she now suffers from chronic asthma, thought to be caused by her swallowing diesel in the water.

Despite the painful memories, Sonia is still able to smile when she remembers Mick, who was described by friends as a gentle giant with a heart of gold.

Sonia said: "Mick always said that he wanted to die with a pint in his hand, and he did."

Since the disaster, Sonia has remarried and moved from Kenyon Walk, Hempstead, to St Margaret's Drive, Wigmore. She got together with husband Jim, a neighbour, after he helped her plant a rose bush in her garden in Mick's memory. The couple have been married for 22 years.

Despite moving on with her life, Sonia still relives the nightmare on each anniversary and finds it hard to celebrate her birthday.

She said: "I suffer a lot when the anniversary comes around and I see the pictures on the telly.

"Sometimes I wish I could change the date of my birthday."

"The recent cruise disaster in Italy brought it all back. I found that really hard. I don't think those feelings and memories are ever going to go away."

Victims

Mick was one of eight victims from Medway. Ann English, of Pelican Close, Strood, who was enjoying a day trip with friend Dion Paintain and his uncle Raymond Cook and aunt Kitty Hirst.

Ann, 29, had only gone along to make up the numbers and the group had not even planned to spend their day trip going to Zeebrugge. They were originally going to Ostend but changed their minds in the morning when they reached Dover.

Ann left behind her partner Michael Wright and their four-year-old son David.

Traffic warden Carol Dowie, 32, and her mother Irene, 65, of Kingston Crescent, Walderslade, were swept away with 33-year-old Richard Smith, of Wyles Street, Gillingham.

Also among the dead was two lorry drivers and their friend; Paul Marshall, 34, of Cookham Hill, Bortsal, Stephen Kenny, 33, of Parr Avenue, Gillingham, and Nicholas Harris, 39, of York Avenue, Gillingham.

For more on the anniversary of the ferry disaster,click here.