Heartbroken Wife Of El Faro Engineer Discovered She Was Pregnant With Twin Girls The Same Day She Found Out Her Husband’s Ship Sank
Katie Griffin, the wife of an El Faro engineer, learned she was pregnant with twin girls shortly before being informed that her husband’s ship sank near the Bahamas. Sadly, the U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for survivors after six days after finding at least one deceased crew member inside of a survival suit and a heavily damaged lifeboat without passengers. The El Faro cargo ship sank in 15,000 feet of water after being overcome by Hurricane Joaquin. It was noted that the ship lost propulsion power as the storm approached and were unable to move out of the deadly storm’s path.
The Daily Mail reports that Katie Griffin received the best and worst news of her life on October 6, 2015. Katie found out that she was pregnant with twin girls shortly before learning that her husband’s ship had sunk to the bottom of the sea and that the U.S. Coast Guard was calling off the search and rescue mission.
The mother-to-be had recently learned that she was having twins and spoke briefly with her husband on Wednesday of last week. The doting wife said that her husband, Keith, the first engineer aboard the doomed El Faro cargo ship, was so excited he broke down in tears when she told them that they were expecting not one but two new bundles of joy. Sadly, the joy would be short lived.
“He was so happy and was in tears,” she explained.
Katie notes that just six days later, she would receive the devastating news that her husband was lost at sea and that the vessel he was aboard was at the bottom of the ocean. The same day, U.S. Coast Guard crew called off the search after finding a deceased crew member floating in a survival suit. The U.S. Coast Guard has not identified the victim at this time but noted that an empty lifeboat was also found in the 225 square nautical mile debris field.
Griffin told People Magazine that learning she was expecting two baby girls should have been the happiest moment of her life. However, it was overshadowed by the fact that she knew she wouldn’t get to share her two little girls with the man she loved.
“I broke down. I should be happy, but that fact that I’m not going to be able to share my two little girls with him is heartbreaking.”
Katie also recounted the last conversation the pair had on Wednesday of last week, just before Keith approached the monster Hurricane Joaquin that would take his life. The mom-to-be says that she gave Keith the happy news that they were expecting twins, and he broke down in tears. However, at 6 p.m., she said her husband informed her he had just eaten dinner and was heading to bed early as it was getting stormy and he didn’t think he would get much sleep.
“We talked about our day and at 6 pm he said he had just finished dinner and was going to bed. He said it was rough and stormy and that he loved me. He didn’t plan on getting much sleep.”
Just six days later, Katie would learn the horrifying news that her husband and the father of her twin girls had likely perished at sea. In all, 33 crew members were aboard the ill-fated El Faro cargo ship when it sank to the bottom of the sea in Hurricane Joaquin. No survivors have been found and the U.S. Coast Guard has called off all search efforts.
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