THE young Dorset woman airlifted from the sinking Italian cruise ship Concordia was reunited with her parents at Heathrow last night.

Rose Metcalf, 22, wiped away tears as she told her ordeal which she described as "surreal."

She revealed how she had written a note to her mother in case she did not survive.

Rose was one of the last people to be rescued by a helicopter after she clambered from Deck Four to Deck Five.

"There was just so much panic so I decided to wait until the water was high enough so I could jump or swim, but I didn't want to be inside," she said.

Rose joined the ship on a six month contract as dancer in October.

The ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Friday night.

Passengers described it as like a scene from Titanic.

“It was very dramatic,” Rose said.

“Men came down in harnesses and took us off.

“The worse thing was the thought of jumping into the cold water in the dark.”

All her personal possessions, including passport and money were left on board.

Rose called home at 3am on Saturday morning to tell her parents she was safe.

Dad Philip picked up Rose’s phone message a few seconds after she left it but had no way of getting back to her immediately.

Rose was having a coffee when she heard a loud bang and then the lights went out.

At first they were told it was an electrical fault.

Rose said: “It was about nine o’clock and I was in the restaurant having a cappuccino when there was a huge bang.

“Water started coming in and the lights went off and everybody was running around not knowing what to do.

“I was still in my dance clothes and I dashed off to my cabin where I had a hangar of dry clothes and I put them on with a life jacket.

“Then I had to go to a station point because I was staff. The ship was listing almost immediately.

“When I got to the station point they said it was an electrical problem and told me to go back and put my dress on, but I said no way.

“I then went off to help calm the passengers and helped do a roll call. People then started getting into the boats and by this time it was quite full of water.”

The company operating the cruise liner has said that errors made by its captain may have caused the disaster that left six dead and 15 still missing.

The captain of the ship, Francesco Schettino, has been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter.

He said his ship struck an uncharted rock and that he did his best to save the passengers. After some suggestions he abandoned ship before the last known passengers, he said that wasn't true.