Former ABC News science editor, and Titanic diver, Dr. Michael Guillen broke down in tears while talking about the missing Oceangate submersible. The journalist joined ITV’s ‘This Morning‘ on Thursday and reflected on his own life-threatening experience.
He also cried as he spoke about the five people believed to be onboard the currently lost vessel.
‘For the last 72 hours it’s been hell for me,’ he said.
‘It’s almost like I feel I’m down there with them. I know what they went through. I feel it. I’m very empathetic towards it.’
His emotional moment comes after officials say they believe the submersible has run out of breathable air, but the search for it continues.
During the somber interview, Dr. Guillen explained the dangers he faced on his own journey to the Titanic wreckage.
‘I almost feel guilty talking to you this morning about how I was given that second chance, but it’s pretty remote that they’re going to be given a second chance and it’s just a terrible way to go,’ he said through tears.
While speaking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Dermot O’Leary this morning, the visibly emotional diving veteran said the five passenger onboard the missing Titan submarine visiting the wreckage of HMS Titanic will feel like they are being ‘buried alive in a tin can’.
‘You lose track of time down there, but it was somewhere between a half hour and an hour but it seemed like an eternity,’ he shared.
‘Because every minute you’re down there, that you’re stuck, and you’re literally buried alive in a tin can. There’s no other way to put it. You’re not buried alive in the ground, you’re buried alive in the water.
‘Time just stretched out for an eternity, you lose all sense of time.
‘It was somewhere between a half hour and an hour that we finally sensed that something had happened, and then we were safe.’
The veteran diver went on to say that he truly feels empathy for the five passengers on board because he knows exactly what they will be feeling at this moment.
‘I have so much empathy. And to be honest I feel guilty talking about this today, because I was saved, but these people won’t be,’ he said before he broke down in tears.
The Titan submarine lost all contact with its ship on Sunday, sparking a global frenzy and rescue effort to find those onboard.
