Steve and Kathy Ledtke were on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground off the coast of Italy. The couple, who own a house on Mackinac Island, still enjoy traveling and have often traveled for mission trips. (Ledtke family photograph) When Steve and Kathy Ledtke planned to take a cruise from Civitavecchia, a small port town outside of Rome, Italy, through the Mediterranean Sea to locations like Marseille, France, Barcelona, Spain, and Palermo, Sicily, they didn’t realize what was in store for them as they boarded the Costa Concordia Friday, January 13. The Mackinac Island couple never thought they would struggle to escape the grounded cruise ship, be stranded with no documents in a foreign country, or be blinded by the media spotlight once returning to Michigan.

Both seasoned travelers, Dr. Ledtke, a family physician, and Mrs. Ledtke, a registered nurse turned flight attendant, spent a few days in Florida, then another two days exploring Rome before boarding the Costa Concordia.

The couple from St. Clair County, who also own the old Sawyer cottage on Mackinac Island’s East Bluff, placed their personal items in the cabin, and after exploring the cruise ship, headed to the dining room for a late dinner.

The ship had already veered on a detour as the couple sat down to their meal. The Costa Concordia was en-route off the coast of Italy and headed to Savona, in northern Italy, when the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, turned west to pass along the shoreline of Giglio Island.

Around 9:30 p.m., as the Ledtkes were meeting fellow cruise travelers, passengers heard a loud thud.

The ship had just run aground on a rocky reef called Le Scole, ripping a 160-foot gash in the hull on the port side. The captain began correcting the cruise ship back on course when the boat began to list.

Everything in the dining hall started sliding to port.

Panic struck as the diners jumped out of their seats. Glasses fell to the floor. Two tables and Dr. Ledtke’s chair slid across the room, pinning him in place. Mrs. Ledtke went to help an elderly couple sitting nearby as her husband wriggled out from between the tables.

Then the power went out. The crew of the ship informed passengers to either head back to the cabins or head to the theatre. There had been a slight electrical problem, they said, and everything would return to normal soon.

From past experience on cruises, Dr. Ledtke knew something was wrong. He said the couple ignored the orders, and headed instead to their assigned lifeboat. They weren’t alone.

When they got to the lifeboat, there was no crew around to offer instructions, so one passenger tried to prepare for the abandon-ship order.

Crew members ordered the passengers gathered around the lifeboat to return to their cabins, saying everything was under control. Dr. Ledtke even recalls seeing one crew member removing a life vest from a passenger.

The Ledtkes and other passengers didn’t budge. Instead, some started organizing the growing crowd so the children would get on the lifeboat first.

By now, the Costa Concordia began to turn back toward the island, trying to reach Giglio Port.

When the abandon ship order was given, almost an hour after the impact, the Ledtkes saw the scene turn into a free-for-all.

“There was no crowd control,” Dr. Ledtke said. “The employees were all trying to get off themselves. The lifeboat overfilled and we had well over 200 people, when they were only supposed to have 150.”

“That’s when we stared saying our prayers,” Mrs. Ledtke added.

Released from its hold, the lifeboat jerked downwards toward the water before the ropes holding the boat stopped its fall.

“When they let the boat loose,” Dr. Ledtke said, “there was so much weight that it was just a rapid jerk. We thought we were going to just drop.”

The lines held, and the lifeboat was lowered down to the sea.

Slowly, the lifeboats made their way to shore, only a couple of hundred yards away. The Costa Concordia was carrying an estimated 1,000 crew members and 3,200 passengers. The latest reports are that 17 people died and 15 are still missing.

The survivors stood on the shore, staring at the cruise ship, wondering what had happened.

“There were thousands of people coming on the shore, and we were all just standing there like zombies,” Dr. Ledtke said. “We didn’t know what to do.”

The 1,000-foot cruise ship eventually hit near shore with a large thud, rolled to its right, exposing the damaged hull.

Dr. and Mrs. Ledtke, both wet and standing outside in 40-degree weather, were stranded on the island, lost in the thousands of travelers, with just the keycards to their cabin room in their pockets. They had no passports, no wallet, and no money. The two found a group of Americans and borrowed a cell phone to call home and the U.S. Embassy in Rome, and some money for food.

“I think we’ll be friends for life because of what we experienced together,” he said of the people they met, “because we helped each other out.”

The group then headed to a small stone church that was opened for shelter, as the island residents helped with anything they could provide, bringing food and blankets to the many stranded passengers.

“It was a strange thing to go from eating dinner to having to search for shelter in a church,” Dr. Ledtke said. “It felt kind of numb. We weren’t tired or hungry. Everyone in that church, it seemed like thousands, nobody was sleeping.

“Your adrenaline kicks in. It’s odd how your body reacts to that.”

They were able to contact friends and family through online social media networks, but calling the embassy proved difficult, since the office wouldn’t open again until Tuesday. But a few of the Americans had helpful connections.

“One of our new American friends had a friend who worked with Senator [Joe] Lieberman,” Dr. Ledtke said. “They got in touch with their friend. Then an embassy rep called our group and said we could go there on Saturday for help.”

They returned to Rome, filled out paperwork for temporary visas, and were given a hotel room to stay in until they could fly back home. The couple couldn’t fly back until Monday, so the two spent the night before riding a shuttle through downtown Rome, enjoying what they could of their vacation. They toured the sights and picked up a few souvenirs to replace the ones still locked away in their cabin on the cruise ship.

They flew to Detroit Monday, January 16, at 5:30 p.m., where they were happy to see their daughter waiting by the gate. A camera crew from a local news television program had found out about their arrival, as well, and the Ledtkes gave a quick interview, describing the scene of chaos. Standing in front of the camera lenses, they were dressed in the same clothes they had been wearing for four days.

“That didn’t seem important at the time,” Dr. Ledtke said, “when you’re talking about life and death.”

They thought their trip was over, but calls from television news programs kept the Ledtkes busy. They were contacted by Fox News, Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, local television affiliates of NBC, ABC, and CBS, and Entertainment Tonight.

Mrs. Ledtke has traveled with her mother and children across the globe, including China, Australia, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Egypt. She has also traveled to Brazil, Philippines, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Mexico, and Peru for medical mission trips. On the other hand, Dr. Ledtke, with a family medical practice, hasn’t been able to join her on many trips, and he joined the rest of the family when he could.

“Hopefully, this event will not prevent him from traveling more in the future,” Mrs. Ledtke said.

Dr. Ledtke admits he’s not an avid traveler, and doesn’t care for flying.

“But I’m getting used to it,” he said. “I think it’s a step higher than boats now.”