THE FATHER of one of the Dorset-born survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster has spoken out about his daughter’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dancer Rose Metcalf, from Wimborne was airlifted from the sinking Italian cruise ship when the Costa Concordia ran aground in January last year.

Rose, 24, was one of the last few crew members on board the ship and described the ordeal as “so much worse than being in a horror film.”

The trial of the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship opened has opened and been adjourned until next week and Capt Francesco Schettino faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship.

32 people died when the ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio and tipped onto its side.

After the tragic event, Rose worked with the survivors of boat and plane disasters in countries including Nigeria, Columbia and Venezuela for a firm called Ribbeck Law.

Her first breakdown occurred on the anniversary of the Concordia disaster when she visited some of the crew members in a Peruvian hospital, according to her father.

Philip Metcalf said: “She is definitely not the same girl as she was before the Costa Concordia and a lot of the problems didn’t actually surface until a year later.

“Visiting the crew members brought all the memories back and since then you can see the post-traumatic stress disorder in little things like getting off at the wrong tube stop and bad reactions to certain films.”

Rose emigrated to Colorado three weeks ago and was only offered help from the NHS the day before she left, eighteen months after the disaster.

Speaking about Capt Francesco Schettino, Philip said: “His actions remind me of a young boy, just trying to show off to people on the shore.”