Underwater Labyrinth: Wedged Beneath the Waves

Summary

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Real Survival Stories

Episode: Underwater Labyrinth: Wedged Beneath the Waves

Host: John Hopkins
Air Date: September 17, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Real Survival Stories tells the harrowing account of Nikki Daniels, a 22-year-old amateur scuba diver, who became wedged inside an underwater shipwreck off the coast of Portland, England, in August 1999. With her equipment trapping her and oxygen running out, Nikki must summon every ounce of training, composure, and courage to navigate her way out of what seemed certain death—transforming from an ordinary diver to a survivor through one of the most claustrophobic experiences imaginable.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction and Setup (00:01–03:09)

• The tranquility of Portland harbor masks the dangers beneath, as Nikki and her boyfriend Chris prepare for a routine dive on the shipwreck HMS Hood.
• Nikki recalls the shocking realization of her predicament:

  “I just, I couldn't quite believe it. It was extraordinary that I was completely and utterly stuck.”
  —Nikki Daniels (01:50)

2. Nikki’s Passion for Diving (05:58–09:46)

• Nikki describes her lifelong love for water and how scuba diving became her “happy place.”

  “I think I was more fish than child. I was always in the water. Just absolutely loved it. I've always called it my happy place.”
  —Nikki Daniels (06:28)

• She discovers scuba diving at university, finding the activity both thrilling and mentally soothing.

3. The Dive Begins: Entering HMS Hood (12:23–17:53)

• Nikki and Chris, seasoned diving buddies, plan to push further inside the wreck than before.
• Their overconfidence leads them to skip a critical safety protocol—attaching a guide line.

  “For whatever reason, we decided not to do that that day. And looking back, that's like a step that I'm aware we missed…”
  —Nikki Daniels (15:36)

4. Disaster Strikes: Trapped Below Deck (17:53–21:34)

• Entering a narrow hatch, they quickly realize it’s a dead end—a tiny, silt-filled cupboard with only a single exit.
• Turning around with bulky equipment stirs up silt, plunging them into a state of zero visibility and panic.

  “My heart just sank. The whole lot kicked up and Chris just disappeared. I couldn't see a thing… these are pretty heavy duty underwater torches and I could see a pin prick of light, so that's really telling me how bad this is.”
  —Nikki Daniels (20:02)

5. Panic, Oxygen Depletion, and the Search for Escape (21:34–30:17)

• Communication is minimal, tension high. Chris escapes the cupboard, but Nikki becomes wedged at the exit.
• Gripped by panic and a ticking clock on her air supply, Nikki contemplates the reality of dying young.

  “I went into thoughts of, oh my God, 22 years old and I'm gonna die. Like literally. Do I have 10 minutes? Do I have 20? I don't know how long we’ve got to get out of this.”
  —Nikki Daniels (03:57)

6. The Turning Point: Training Kicks In (27:46–29:51)

• Amid chaos, Nikki taps into her training: “There is no room for panic... you have to tackle what's in front of you or people die.” (28:03).
• She pauses, calms herself, and suddenly realizes the truth:

  “A voice in my head… literally said, crystal clear, you are not stuck. Your kit is stuck.”
  —Nikki Daniels (29:51)

7. Final Escape and Near Asphyxiation (30:17–37:29)

• Nikki ditches her equipment with Chris’s help, but is left without a regulator—no source of air.

• In desperation, she yanks the mouthpiece from Chris’s regulator to take a breath.

  “It’s every man for themselves at that point. And I rudely grabbed the mouthpiece, ripped it out of his mouth and shoved it into my mouth and took a huge breath. Thank God.”
  —Nikki Daniels (32:42)

• Both are now low on air. As they flee for the exit, Nikki spot’s Chris’s emergency cylinder—a last, miraculous supply.

  “There was a regulator by my hip… I just took a breath and it was the emergency cylinder and it was there and it had air in and I just, I was elated. I couldn't believe it.”
  —Nikki Daniels (36:20)

8. The Ascent: Buddy Breathing and Survival (37:29–40:56)

• They share the emergency air, and Chris leads Nikki in a controlled emergency swimming ascent (“CESA”), exhaling constantly to avoid injury.
• Breaking the surface in a rush of bubbles:

  “We came out of the surface like a champagne cork because I didn't have any weight on me… I think, amazed, amazed at what had happened, horrified that what had happened, amazed that we got out of it.”
  —Nikki Daniels (40:18, 40:56)

9. Aftermath: Shock, Guilt, and Reflection (41:12–45:43)

• The couple returns to their dive boat first; the nature of their ordeal becomes apparent when the crew asks about Nikki’s missing kit.

• Afterwards, Nikki experiences anger at their recklessness and guilt over what almost happened to her family and Chris.

  “There was definitely anger that we'd put ourselves in that position in the first place. There was some guilt as well…”
  —Nikki Daniels (42:48)

• Even years later, the experience leaves her with lasting claustrophobia and a deep aversion to entering shipwrecks.

10. Legacy and Lessons Learned (44:28–45:43)

• Nikki cautions against taking the same risks, reflecting on the foolishness with the wisdom of hindsight as a mother of two.
• She also credits the ordeal with giving her a lasting resilience:

  “It's definitely given me like that attitude of whatever life throws at me, there's always something I can do… I refused to believe that there was no answer.”
  —Nikki Daniels (44:50, 45:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Dangers of Complacency:

  “The trouble when you've done something like that for a while, there is a danger that you become a bit overconfident.”
  —Nikki Daniels (10:31)

• On the Moment of Realization:

  “You are not stuck. Your kit is stuck.”
  —Nikki Daniels (29:51)

• On Surviving the Impossible:

  “We came out of the surface like a champagne cork… I think, amazed, amazed at what had happened, horrified that what had happened, amazed that we got out of it.”
  —Nikki Daniels (40:18, 40:56)

• On the Psychological Impact:

  “I couldn't cope with the idea of going into a wreck because it felt absolutely terrifying.”
  —Nikki Daniels (43:40)

• On Resilience:

  “Whatever life throws at me, there's always something I can do… I refused to believe that there was no answer.”
  —Nikki Daniels (44:50, 45:18)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:01–03:09 — Introduction, setup
• 05:58–07:58 — Nikki’s early love of water and first experiences diving
• 10:31–16:07 — Dive pair dynamics, safety protocols, and entering HMS Hood
• 17:53–21:34 — Entering the hatch, getting trapped, silt and panic
• 27:46–29:51 — Nikki’s critical moment of self-control, realization, and decision
• 30:17–37:29 — Equipment jettison, buddy breathing, race for survival
• 37:29–41:05 — Critical ascent and surfacing
• 41:12–44:28 — Return to boat, aftermath, psychological toll
• 44:28–45:43 — Reflections, lessons, and resilience

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Tone and Storytelling Style

The episode is tense, immediate, and emotionally raw, mixed with Nikki’s practical, British understatement and flashes of humor (“You couldn’t make it up, could you? That’s ridiculous. Such a stupid way to die.” (25:56)). The structure takes the listener deep into Nikki’s psychology, making the suspense visceral as the minutes—and her air supply—tick away.

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Summary

“Underwater Labyrinth: Wedged Beneath the Waves” is a gripping, immersive survival story centered on the split-second decisions that separate life and death. Nikki Daniels’ experience is a sobering reminder for adventurers and everyday listeners alike: preparation, composure, and the refusal to give in are the best tools in dire circumstances. Through her ordeal, Nikki attests to the enduring power of calm, training, and hope.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Pro Savings days are back at Lowe's. Mylo's Pro Rewards members save even more with limited time doorbuster deals. Save $5 on 24 count. Contractor's Choice 42 gallon trash bags now just $14.78 plus get your choice. Select Dewalt Elite series saw blades for $9.98. Not a pro Rewards member. Join for free today at Lowes. Valid through 917. Selection varies by location while supplies last. Loyalty programs subject to terms and condition. See Lowes.com terms for details. Subject to change. It's August 22, 1999. A mild summer's morning in Portland harbor on the south coast of England. On the surface of the English Channel, all is calm. Boats bob serenely on the water. Seagulls call out overhead. Beneath the waves, however, a different world reverberates. Deep down in the murky depths is a relic of a bygone age. A vast battleship sunk during the First World War lies on the seafloor, upside down. The secrets of its glory years hidden from view. Fish swim through, its rusty hull riddled with Holland. And somewhere in this vast underwater labyrinth, a young woman is trapped. Although precisely where and by what, it's impossible to know. Encumbered by her diving gear, 22 year old Nikki Daniels tries to wriggle her way free from whatever it is that's wedging her in place. But no matter how hard she tries, she cannot move. She cannot escape the wreckage.

[Nikki Daniels]

I just, I couldn't quite believe it. It was extraordinary that I was completely and utterly stuck.

[Narrator]

Nikki isn't alone. Right next to her is her boyfriend, Chris, floating freely in the water. He tries frantically to wrestle her loose, but the more they struggle, the worse things get. Panic sets in. Nikki breathes harder and harder. Her oxygen cylinder is rapidly emptying. With every passing second, her situation grows more desperate.

[Nikki Daniels]

I couldn't see a thing. There was absolutely no visibility at all. So 0vis. I tapped my finger on my mask and I couldn't see my finger. You're under so much pressure because you know you've only got a certain amount of time to get out of the situation you're in.

[Narrator]

The clock ticks. Time seems to be rushing past. Nikki tries to focus on her training, but nothing has prepared her for this. To compose herself, she takes a deep breath. She can only hope that it won't be her last.

[Nikki Daniels]

This is it. This is life or death. So if you don't get to grips with this in the next few seconds, you're dead.

[Narrator]

Ever wondered what you would do when Disaster strikes. If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Nikki Daniels. A keen amateur diver, Nikki is never happier than when exploring life within the open seas in Britain and far beyond. In the summer of 1999, she goes on an expedition with her diving club. It's the kind of thing she's done dozens of times before. 50ft underwater is her home from home. But one wrong move turns her happy place into the scene of potential tragedy.

[Nikki Daniels]

I went into thoughts of, oh my God, 22 years old and I'm gonna die. Like literally. Do I have 10 minutes? Do I have 20? I don't know how long we've got to get out of this.

[Narrator]

Trapped within an upturned ship at the bottom of the sea with low visibility and scant supplies of oxygen, Niki will need to think and act fast if she's going to solve this deadly puzzle. And in order to escape, putting herself in even greater danger may be her only option.

[Nikki Daniels]

I mean, to die like this, this is absolutely ludicrous. And I said to myself, there must be a way out of this. Think of it.

[Narrator]

I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is real Survival Stor. It's 9am on Sunday, August 22, 1999, just off Portland Harbor, Dorset on the south coast of England, aboard a diving boat. Out at sea, six divers are kitting up. Equipment is checked and securely fastened. Dry suits and fins, oxygen cylinders and eye masks, Stabilizer jackets, torches, knives and underwater watches. The smells of seawater and sun cream float on the breeze. For 22 year old Nikki Daniels, this is all routine. In fact, she went through the exact same procedure yesterday. Today is her second dive of the weekend at this very spot. But for her, this isn't a tedious preamble. It's the countdown to being transported to another universe.

[Nikki Daniels]

The excitement of diving, it starts when you're kitting up on the boat. You know, you're getting your mask sorted out, you're doing your final kind of checks. So we're checking our air is okay, and then you do the okay and down signal and then just going below the surface, there's a whole world under there.

[Narrator]

Nikki's love affair with life underwater began as a child growing up in Carshalton, a town on the outskirts of South London.

[Nikki Daniels]

I think I was more fish than child. I was always in the water. Just absolutely loved it. I've always called it my happy place.

[Narrator]

As a schoolgirl in the 1980s, Nikki was fascinated by the ocean. She daydreamed about swimming with dolphins and exploring their habitats. But it seemed the stuff of fantasy, the kind of thing that other people did, not her.

[Nikki Daniels]

I'm growing up in the 80s. Where would that opportunity have even been? I don't know, it's just my mum and I at home, we didn't have money to spare, so I don't think I'd have even given it a thought.

[Narrator]

But all that changed when she turned 18 and began studying at Kingston University.

[Nikki Daniels]

I literally walked in the door of Freshers Fair. We, you know, where they have all the stands and the clubs and sports and things you can join. And there was this group of people who became lifelong friends in the end running a scuba club. I didn't know they had a scuba club and I just was, oh my God, I can go diving. This is accessible to me.

[Narrator]

Nikki fell in love with her new pastime. It was at once thrilling and unexpectedly soothing.

[Nikki Daniels]

It's just, it's magical, it's absolutely fantastic. And I found that any worries that I had above the ocean, sort of life worries, stuff going on at home, whatever that might be, stresses, as soon as I was underwater that just, literally just disappeared.

[Narrator]

Nikki left Kingston University in 1998, but she remained involved with the scuba club, participating in dives at the weekend. Now, a year on, they've reconvened for their latest jaunt, an exciting two day dive at a special spot just off England's southwest coast. It's the site of HMS Hood, a battleship that's been languishing at the bottom of the sea since 1914. The ship was deliberately sunk at the start of the First World War to create an underwater barrier protecting Portland harbor from potential attacks by German U boats. Any sunken ship is a tantalizing prospect for inquisitive divers. But Hood offers something extra. Back in 1914, explosives were used to send the vessel to the seafloor. A hole blown in the side filled it with water. Hood soon capsized and ended up rooted nearly 60ft below the surface. Upside down. It makes for a highly unusual diving location. A jungle gym under the water, shrouded in darkness, full of obstacles and features to explore. Newbies might be wary when encountering HMS Hood for the first time, but Nikki is well acquainted with the wreck as she checks her kit on the boat on the morning of August 22, she's preparing for what will be her 17th trip to the sunken ship. Placing her feet into her fins. Nikki looks around at her half dozen companions, five other divers and the boat's skipper. As usual, they'll be diving in pairs. It's a crucial part of the health and safety protocol.

[Nikki Daniels]

Safety is absolutely key to scuba diving because so much can go wrong and it can go wrong so quickly. And it's all about staying, you know, with your buddy so that you can help each other if there's a problem. You're always thinking of, what have I got with me that can help keep me alive, really? You got your computer on your wrist showing you the depth that you're at. You got your gauges to show you your compressed air levels. There's an awful lot of health and safety that needs to be involved to get you home.

[Narrator]

Nikki flashes a smile across the boat at her buddy for this weekend. It's Chris, her boyfriend. They've been a couple for two years and Chris has been Nicky's buddy for almost half of the 100 or so dives she's ever done.

[Nikki Daniels]

We knew each other obviously very well and we worked well together as a buddy pair because we took it very seriously. We had talked about descending to the seabed, making our way to the wreck, and we wanted to go further inside than we had done before because you dive the wreck a lot of times and you want to see something different. But the trouble when you've done something like that for a while, there is a danger that you become a bit overconfident.

[Narrator]

Deep under the sea, there's no room for complacency on their own. In the gloom of the English Channel, they'll have nobody but themselves to make sure they return safely to the surface.

[Nikki Daniels]

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[Nikki Daniels]

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[Narrator]

It'S 9:30am Nikki and Chris are perched on the side of the boat. It's nearly time. Strapped to her back, Nikki has a 12L oxygen cylinder, comfortably enough for the 25 minute dive they have planned. Chris has a 15 liter cylinder and attached to that he's got an extra 3 liters in a small emergency cylinder. Safety first, they put their air regulator mouthpieces in place. Then, one after the other, they roll into the waves in the cool English water. Visibility isn't great.

[Nikki Daniels]

The sea in the UK is murky at best, so generally you can't see too much of where you're going. But you can see a buoy line. You pull yourself down the buoy line, equalising your ears as you go down. And then you start to see the boulders that are on the seabed near the harbour wall.

[Narrator]

As they descend, visibility improves. Teeming aquatic life presents itself. Silvery shoals of fish swim around the clumps of white coral. Huge spindly spider crabs scamper across the seabed. The current swirls in their ears. Creatures send out strange clicking noises. Nikki can even hear the sand shifting beneath her. She and Chris swim even further into this alternate world. Soon the wreck comes into view. It's a spooky sight, upside down, edged in the murky green light. Nikki has explored wrecks in other locations. They're always spectacular in warm, clear waters. Some sunken vessels can be seen in their entirety, like a model ship at the bottom of a fishbowl. But HMS Hood is different.

[Nikki Daniels]

The whole thing is on its head. So things that were screwed into the deck are now on the ceiling. It's very rusted and in a few pieces, but you're trying to work out what you're looking at. I know some novices who've thought wrecks are are terrifying, but I just found them really fascinating. And the ship was so big. It's roughly 125 meters long. So it's huge and just a fascinating place to be really.

[Narrator]

Nikki and Chris swim towards the wreck. A submerged, ghostly wall of steel, 400 foot long. All along its side are large ragged holes. Each tells a story of the violent sinking and the subsequent decades of slow decay. They glide through the ship's ruptured side. Bubbles from their breathing apparatus rise toward the surface as Nikki and Chris disappear into Hood's dark interior. But in their eagerness, they have forgotten something.

[Nikki Daniels]

The safest thing to do is to have a safety line that you can secure to the outside of the wreck and kind of follow it in and you reel that in as you go. So it's kind of like a Hansel and Gretel dropping their crumbs and then following their way back. For whatever reason, we decided not to do that that day. And looking back, that's like a step that I'm aware we missed. And then actually, I think once you've missed one safety step, you're probably going to miss another safety step.

[Narrator]

From the inside of the wreck, Nikki is struck by its eerie beauty. Daylight filters through the holes they've just entered. Divers call these blue windows. Under torchlight, the hidden world of HMS Hood is revealed. It's alive with creatures of the deep seeking shelter in its recesses, darting through the water in search of prey. Nikki kicks her fins and pushes deeper into the ship's belly. HMS Hood is a baffling time capsule. Below her is a mass of detritus from naval service nearly a century ago. Above her is a trove of ancient machinery. Giant hoists and pulleys, engine gears and forbidding gun turrets hang like rusting stalactites in a dank, dark cave. In its seafaring days, this equipment was all bolted tight to the ship's floor. Now, after 85 years upside down in the water, the structure is breaking up. From time to time, chunks of the metal above clatter to the seabed. Dangers are everywhere, but Nikki and Chris are in their element.

[Nikki Daniels]

It's an adventure and it's your explorers, really. You're kind of picking your way across tons of rusted metal, basically. And as we got to a certain point, we looked up and there seemed to be like a hatch above us that looked intriguing. And we signaled to each other, okay, we're going to go in. Let's have a look. Perhaps it takes us to another section of the ship.

[Narrator]

Chris goes first. Nikki watches as he propels himself up through the water. His head disappears into the narrow opening, then his torso. As he fades from view, Nikki calmly follows. It's intriguing, this little pocket they've discovered. Who knows where it might lead. In no time, she is entering the hatch. Once through, she spins around to face Chris. And as their eyes meet, an awful realization hits both of them.

[Nikki Daniels]

His face was horrified. His eyes were huge, as if he's kind of going, oh, my God, stop. Don't come in. But it was too late because I was already in.

[Narrator]

What Chris has discovered is not A monstrous sea creature or an old underwater explosive, but something just as dangerous. The opening he has swum through isn't a hatch leading somewhere new. It is a dead end. The opening to a storage space probably only 2 meters in length, depth and width. It's dark and almost completely sealed. The only way out is the narrow aperture they've just entered. In the vastness of the open sea, this is how they find themselves, side by side in this tiny enclosed space.

[Nikki Daniels]

I think there was a moment of, oh, God. All right, we've already mucked up. This is not good. We need to get out of here immediately.

[Narrator]

Their immediate problem is that they're both the wrong way up. Their only point of exit is the opening they've just swum through. They now need to turn themselves upside down in order to swim out again. Easier said than done. With little in the way of light and burdened by the kit they're wearing, turning around in this small underwater space isn't straightforward. It might be impossible. Nikki attempts to maneuver herself into position. As she does so, she brushes against a 5 inch pile of silt, thick gloopy sand that swirls up into the water in front of her.

[Nikki Daniels]

My heart just sank. The whole lot kicked up and Chris just disappeared. I couldn't see a thing. I tapped my finger on my mask and I couldn't see my finger, so I felt down by my waist and I had my torch there. I quickly turned it on and these are pretty heavy duty underwater torches and I could see a pin prick of light, so that's really telling me how bad this is.

[Narrator]

In the darkness, Chris reaches for his own torch. He switches it on, but again, it's almost as if the bulb is blown. The thick silt swallows any hint of illumination. As sand clogs the water, Nikki's body floods with fear. Experienced diver though she is, she has never been in this kind of danger before. Encased by silt, unable to see, speak or move freely, a feeling of claustrophobia kicks in. Her heart pounds. Beneath the layers of her dry suit and underclothing, she begins to sweat. Being stuck in a small, dark space anywhere can be frightening. But more than 50ft under the sea with limited air, there is a very real chance that this cupboard could turn into an underwater coffin. In the space of just a few seconds, a dreamlike dive has turned nightmarish. It's hard to believe how quickly things have unraveled. Silently, Nikki rages at herself.

[Nikki Daniels]

We should never have both come into a space that we didn't understand, we didn't know where it led. What have we done?

[Narrator]

In retrospect, the safety line could have forestalled disaster. Had they fastened a line to the outside of the wreck, it could have provided an easy escape route. Perhaps, but it's all academic now. Self flagellation is of no use to anyone. What's needed is a practical plan. It's Chris who makes the first move. Despite the obvious restrictions, basic verbal communication is possible underwater. Just about, Chris begins to shout a few short words. Unable to see his face, Nicky listens intently. She hears enough to understand the plan. Chris will turn himself upside down and feel his way to the opening. If Nikki holds onto him, they will, with any luck, be able to exit one after the other. It's an imperfect plan, but there's no apparent alternative. If they're to get out of here, they'll have to do it by touch alone. Chris turns in the water, Nicky's hands resting on top of his oxygen cylinder. The movement causes the silt to stir once again. Niki can feel him searching his way down. Her hands are now on his waist, then his legs. Eventually she feels his fins. She grabs hold of him before he moves out of reach. Chris swims through the opening. He is now safely on the other side. Nikki anxiously reaches her hands out in front of her. And there it is, the edge of the hatch.

[Nikki Daniels]

So, okay, I'm in the right place. Really aware that I'm now on my own in a dark, pitch black cupboard. Upside down. Breathing isn't very comfortable underwater. The bubbles kind of all around your face, which isn't great. So I put my head down and I felt through the hatch and I started to lower myself. My head was out, my upper body and my arms. I couldn't get any further. I was completely wedged, unable to see.

[Narrator]

What'S holding her back. She shifts from side to side like a fish flailing in a net. It's no use. She's stuck tight. Hanging upside down, Nikki attempts to free herself. She wriggles backwards inside the cupboard. Her hope is to move herself clear from whatever obstruction is in the way. She tries it once and again and again. Yet every time she hits the same problem. By this point, Chris from the other side of the hatch is is trying to pull her free. He heaves on her stabilizer jacket. But it's to no avail. Nikki is going nowhere.

[Nikki Daniels]

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[Narrator]

It has now been at least 15 minutes since they entered the cupboard. At the start of the dive, they each had enough oxygen to last 30 minutes underwater, but that's predicated on on normal breathing patterns. In all likelihood, Nikki has very few breaths left.

[Nikki Daniels]

I knew I was breathing really heavily and I knew at the back of my mind, the quicker I'm. The harder I'm breathing, the more air I'm using, compressed air I'm using up from my cylinder, which at some point is going to run out. So how long have I got? I was panicked, but I was also kind of incredulous about it. I was like, seriously? Death recorded as hanging upside down in a rusty old wreck on the south coast. You couldn't make it up, could you? That's ridiculous. Such a stupid way to die. I wasn't upset. It was more kind of a practical. What if you don't make it out? How devastating for my family and my buddy with me. How will this affect him? He could get to the surface, but this will still affect his life. How is he going to tell my mum about this? How horrific. So just all these thoughts and just breathing like a steam train.

[Narrator]

Now Chris is panicking too. He continues to yank at Nicky's stabilizer jacket, pulling forcefully at her shoulders. Yet no matter how hard he tries, she stays stuck. Through the water, Nikki can hear the dull, flat sound of her boyfriend's shouting. And if her oxygen is depleted, then so is his. The intensity of the moment is elevated by sensory deprivation. The darkness of the cupboard, the thick, blinding murkiness, the enforced muteness of being underwater. Yet in other ways, Nicky is overwhelmed by a cacophony.

[Nikki Daniels]

It was just chaos. Because the bubbles are quite loud. So I'm breathing hard. Bubbles are everywhere. He's shouting, dragging on my kit to try and get me out. It's still really dark. He's super stressed. I'm super stressed, thinking, well, maybe it's all over to die like this. This is absolutely ludicrous.

[Narrator]

An inflection point has been reached. Unless Nikki can grab hold of the situation immediately, it's curtains. She reverts to her training, the basics she was taught at the start of her diving career.

[Nikki Daniels]

It was excellent training in our club, older divers, very experienced instructors. And it was instilled into us, like, there is no room for panic. There is a point where you have to deal with what's in front of you. I mean, fall apart later, by all means, but you have to tackle what's in front of you or people die.

[Narrator]

Nikki shuts her eyes and inhales.

[Nikki Daniels]

And I literally held my breath to just find a moment of, like, Zen, I suppose, a moment of calm just to be like, right, okay, just take a second. And I held my breath and I said to myself, there must be a way out of this. Think of it.

[Narrator]

Nikki pauses her breathing. She relaxes her body. The trail of bubbles rising from her apparatus disappears, Hovering nearby, Chris's eyes widen. All he can see is that his girlfriend has stopped breathing. There's no way he can know that she's centering herself. It appears that Nikki's oxygen has run out. She's either unconscious or dead. Chris bursts into action again, shouting and pulling at her while Nikki tries to regulate her breathing. His is rampant. That oxygen cylinder strapped to his back will soon be running on empty. Nicky has to ignore Chris's distress for now. A plan is needed. She holds her breath for perhaps as long as 30 seconds. Eventually, she exhales. And as she does so, a revelation strikes.

[Nikki Daniels]

Then I breathed out and the answer presented itself. And there was just this incredible moment where a voice in my head that I think was my subconscious literally said, crystal clear, you are not stuck. Your kit is stuck. In my flapping about and panic, I hadn't considered that. And that was the answer.

[Narrator]

Chris can see Nikki breathing again. The nightmare for now has been averted. From hanging lifelessly a few seconds ago, she now speeds into activity. Piece by piece, she jettisons her bulky equipment.

[Nikki Daniels]

Quickly. I started unbuckling all my kit. You've got, like, shoulder clips, waist clips. I just started ditching everything I could because I thought, well, I don't know what is stuck. So I'm getting out of all of this and then I can just go to Chris and we can get out.

[Narrator]

But not all of her kit is willing to oblige. One piece in particular will not shift. It's a hose attached to the front of her dry suit, there to allow compressed air into the suit from the cylinder. Nikki swipes her arms at Chris. She mimes what she needs him to do. He follows her lead. Within a few seconds, the hose is unfastened. The most cumbersome piece of kit is the most important, the oxygen cylinder. But that must go too. She takes one last breath, removes her regulator mouthpiece and abandons all her diving paraphernalia to the swallowing silt. And just like that, Niki is free. Upside down, head facing the seabed, she swoops out of her equipment and away from the cupboard. Without her kit, she looks like some rare marine life form, a mythological beast dwelling at the bottom of the sea.

[Nikki Daniels]

It's just me in a mask, a suit and some fins. I'm 16 meters underwater, so that was quite a surreal experience because it felt.

[Narrator]

So wrong, not to mention utterly perilous. Far from being saved, Nikki has swapped one potentially fatal situation for another, even more intense one. That last gulp of air from her cylinder has not lasted long. Bubbles escape from her mouth and nose. Her aching lungs scream for another breath. She turns to Chris and sees the shock in his face. But there's nothing she can say to calm the crisis. Her chest tightens. Every cell in her body thirsts for oxygen. She's on the brink of blacking out. And the instinct for self preservation kicks in.

[Nikki Daniels]

So I either need to find another regulator mouthpiece for some air, or I think that's it. And the only one I could see, unfortunately for him, was the one in his mouth. And it's every man for themselves at that point. And I rudely grabbed the mouthpiece, ripped it out of his mouth and shoved it into my mouth and took a huge breath. Thank God.

[Narrator]

Filled with this moment of relief, Nikki pushes the regulator back into Chris's mouth. Yet no sooner has the oxygen hit her lungs than her chest begins to tighten once more. The clock is reset. The awful countdown begins again. And this time not just for Nicky. Panic and exertion have robbed Chris of his oxygen supply too. His regulator mouthpiece back in place, he inhales sharply but the last of the air is now gone. They have to move. In one fluid motion, Chris pulls Nikki towards him, tucks her under his arm and begins to kick. He hurtles towards the shimmering blue windows. The holes on the sides of the wreck. It's their only route back to the surface. Their only chance.

[Nikki Daniels]

Limu Emu and Doug.

[Narrator]

Here we have the Limu imu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their.

[Nikki Daniels]

Car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual Mutual. Fascinating.

[Narrator]

It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Nikki Daniels]

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Narrator]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings variant by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates excludes Massachusetts. Mike and Alyssa are always trying to outdo each other. When Alyssa got a small water bottle, Mike showed up with a 4 liter jug. When Mike started gardening, Alyssa started beekeeping.

[Nikki Daniels]

Oh, come on.

[Narrator]

They called a truce for their holiday and used Expedia trip planner to collaborate on all the details of their trip. Once there, Mike still did more laps around the pool. Whatever. You were made to outdo your holidays. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel. Chris powers through the water, frantically kicking his legs and flicking his fins. They edge closer to the side of the wreck. The light of the blue windows grows gradually brighter. For Nikki, the prospect of escape is tantalizingly close, yet still a very long way away.

[Nikki Daniels]

I could feel I had breathed out my last breath and I just thought, I don't think I've got enough to get me to the surface. I thought, God, I've actually escaped. We're going to get to the seabed, then we have to ascend. And now I don't think I'll make it. So what now I drown? This is unbelievable after all this effort and then we drown. I just need a couple more breaths from somewhere and I think I could make it to the surface. And I looked around and I thought it's possible I might black out, but we're going to have to look for any other opportunities. And I kind of asked the world.

[Narrator]

For a second miracle in search of that miracle. Nikki's eyes dart around her. There's nothing there but the gray green water, the debris of the sunken ship whizzing past on the floor beneath. And then the miracle arrives. Well, perhaps less a miracle, more a moment of blessed realization.

[Nikki Daniels]

In our panic, we had forgotten he had a small emergency cylinder attached to his main cylinder. I'm looking around, I'm frantic. We're still moving at this point towards the edge of the wreck. And just as if it had always been there, there was a regulator by my hip. Just sat there and I thought, well, I'll try it. I'm going to See if there's any air in this. And if not, then I think it is game over. And I just took a breath and it was the emergency cylinder and it was there and it had air in and I just, I was elated. I couldn't believe it.

[Narrator]

This 3 liter cylinder is a godsend. Theoretically, there's enough here to last them both to the surface. What they must do is buddy breathing. It's a scuba technique of sharing oxygen between diving partners in a controlled fashion. But there's no way for Nicky to explain all this. In their race against the clock, Chris is fully focused on getting out of the ship as soon as possible. Nikki prizes the regulator from her mouth and offers it to her partner. He doesn't respond. He's fully locked into an emergency procedure of his own.

[Nikki Daniels]

In his mind, he was on a mission and he was getting us to the surface and out of this.

[Narrator]

With Nikki still tucked beneath his arm, Chris fins through a blue window. At last they're out of the wreck. In an instant, the dark ceiling of the upside down HMS Hood has been replaced by an illuminated canopy. Daylight beckons. Now that they're out of the ship, Niki is able to make Chris aware of the emergency cylinder. Gratefully, he shares the regulator with her. But safety is still so distant above them. There's still at least 50ft of open sea to overcome. And it's not as straightforward as scrambling upwards as quickly as possible. Changes in pressure could cause fatal internal injuries. Once again, it's years of scuba training that hold their only hope of survival on the seabed. They right themselves. Fins facing the sand. Niki twigs what Chris has planned, it's known as a cesar or Cesar, a controlled emergency swimming ascent. In this technique, a diver ascends vertically to the surface without oxygen. As they rise through the water, air in the lungs will naturally expand. To ease the pressure and avoid terrible injury, the diver must exhale slowly but constantly. It's easier to do this while making a single continuous sound. They each take a breath. Nicky grabs hold of Chris's stabilizer jacket and they begin their ascent. He adopts the Superman pose, raising his arm high above him. He tilts his head back to keep his airways open. Then he begins to kick his legs, his fins displacing the water around him. And he starts his long, loud exhale, an underwater shout to carry them to the surface. They rise quickly through the water. Nikki grips onto Chris for dear life. The water around them is peppered with bubbles. Face to face, she watches Chris intently with astonishment and anguish.

[Nikki Daniels]

Is Quite frightening to witness. And we rushed through the kind of murky green to the surface. Bubbles everywhere.

[Narrator]

They continue to rise. The surface is 30ft away. Then 20, 10, they are now just a few feet away. And then the breakthrough. They race out of the water as though flying through a glass ceiling.

[Nikki Daniels]

We came out of the surface like a champagne cork because I didn't have any weight on me, so I've just kind of all my buoyancy straight to the surface. He came up, maybe got half a breath and went straight back under.

[Narrator]

Chris sinks beneath the waves once again before thankfully re emerging just a few yards away from Nikki. They gasp greedily for air. Treading water, Chris takes a moment to blow into his stabilizer jacket. It gives him buoyancy, easing the burden of staying afloat. They're both exhausted and dumbstruck, just, I.

[Nikki Daniels]

Think, amazed, amazed at what had happened, horrified that what had happened, amazed that we got out of it.

[Narrator]

Nikki swivels her head in search of their boat. She catches sight of it some distance away on the horizon.

[Nikki Daniels]

And then we're both screaming, help. Just absolutely screaming just to get out of the water. And the skipper, we could see him looking out kind of towards the continent and he was just away with the pixies. And then eventually he heard me and he turned around and saw us waving frantically, giving the emergency signal and he came back to pick us up and he's just looking at me like, where is your kit?

[Narrator]

Nicky and Chris clamber aboard, elated but drained. They slump on the deck. It's now they realize that they're the first of the divers back on the boat. They check their watches. Their total dive time has been around 30 minutes, almost exactly the length they'd originally intended. But that 30 minutes could have barely deviated further from the plan.

[Nikki Daniels]

The Next kind of 10 minutes or so, our two other buddy pairs came back to the boat. One of our friends says, how was your dive? How was everything? And we're just like, I think we were just stunned silence and a bit pale. And he's looking around and he's going, nikki, where's your kit? I don't understand what's, what's wrong? And then of course, we were relating the story to them and of course they were horrified.

[Narrator]

The boat returns to shore. Back on dry land, the world continues to turn. Nicky and Chris decompress and try to wrap their heads around their brush with disaster. It's hard to escape the feeling that it could have all been avoided if only they had attached a safety line to the Outside of the wreck, it.

[Nikki Daniels]

Was a mixture afterwards of some anger because we'd been really stupid. There was definitely anger that we'd put ourselves in that position in the first place. There was some guilt as well, because what I had nearly done to my, you know, my family, to my poor mum, that just was a horrible feeling and mixed with absolute elation. We're so lucky to have got out of that. So it was a real mixed bag.

[Narrator]

There are few physical reminders of the ordeal. Nikki's shoulders are left with large dark bruises from where Chris tried to pull her free of the cupboard. But these soon fade. The greater legacy is psychological. A year after the incident, Nikki goes diving in Tenerife at the site of a wreck, though a much smaller one than HMS Hood.

[Nikki Daniels]

It was crystal clear water, it was pretty good and the local dive guide had said we could go into this wreck and, you know, swim through and out the other side and all these different people were going in and I couldn't do it mentally. I couldn't cope with the idea of going into a wreck because it felt absolutely terrifying.

[Narrator]

A few years after Nikki's emergency, the authorities deem HMS Hood too dangerous for diving expeditions. Though some risk takers defy the ban, it's not something that has ever tempted Nikki. 26 years on, she still contends with claustrophobia. Small, enclosed spaces of all sorts of are a considerable challenge for her. She says she looks back on the whole experience with a sense of disbelief.

[Nikki Daniels]

I'm 47, I've got two children. If they did anything as stupid as that, I'd be very angry. I think it was very, very foolish.

[Narrator]

Yet alongside self admonishment, Nikki takes positives from the experience too. In certain ways, she says her tale of survival has taught her important things about herself.

[Nikki Daniels]

It's definitely given me like that attitude of whatever life throws at me, there's always something I can do. So I've had some really quite serious health issues over about the last decade, but that has been with me, that attitude of, you're not just going to sit in this, there's something you can do about this.

[Narrator]

More than anything, Nikki believes in listening to the inner voice she heard that day, the voice that gave her the answer to freeing herself from disaster.

[Nikki Daniels]

I've had that experience in other situations, none as grave as that. But I asked the question, I took a pause to listen and the answer presented itself. It comes from that incident where I refused to believe that there was no answer. And I think that's really stayed with me.

[Narrator]

In the next episode we meet Johnny Savage. In April 1998. The 26 year old is part of a two man crew ferrying a luxury fishing boat from Florida to Cancun. A routine job that should take a single day. But nearly 100 miles off the coast, the waters turn against them. Without warning, they encounter an incredibly rare natural phenomenon as a yawning, terrifying chasm opens in the middle of the ocean. Never seen anything like it for my life. It was like a whole notion. It wasn't like looking forward and seeing like a cliff, like we're climbing a cliff or anything like that, or we're climbing a mountain. It was just normal seas and then it was a hole. Facing a deadly force once believed to be a myth, Johnny and his captain will find themselves caught in a horrifying saga at sea. No one knows where they are. The radio is dead, the life raft is nowhere to be seen. And the warm turquoise waters around them are teeming with predators. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen right now ad free by joining Noizr. Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why why you should. One, it's $15 a month. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom uses it. Are you, are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try.

[Nikki Daniels]

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