LSN

DELCAMBRE - Last week Sonnia Young was glued to the TV watching the protest in Egypt, and it was not because she was a history buff. She watched because her husband David was stuck in the middle of it.

David works for TransOcean on a drilling rig in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt.

The day before the protest erupted, David and a co-worker were transported to Alexandria in Egypt to a hospital because the co-worker had what they thought was a heart attack.

The co-worker stayed overnight in a hospital while David booked a room in the Hilton Green Plaza in Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, this past Thursday.

When he arrived that day, there were reports that 100,000 people were on the streets demanding President Hosni Mubara resign.

“Friday morning I was thinking I was going back offshore,” said David. “I was ready.”

He arrived at the airport ready to board a helicopter and then fly to his rig, but he was greeted by a crowd of protestors.

He was told to go back to the hotel and stay in his hotel room. He tried again Saturday morning and saw there were three military tanks in front of the airport protecting it. Once again, David had to go back to his hotel room.

“We were told to stay put,” he said.

Saturday night is when the protesters began to get aggressive and police had to use guns to try and control the crowd. David said he heard gun shots and yelling by demonstrators throughout the night.

“It was scary,” he said. “The protesters did not come in the hotel. I heard gun shots. I did not sleep well that night.”

In the meantime, while David and other TransOcean workers are stranded in a hotel, the Young family in Vermilion Parish were nervous because they were not sure the status of David.

Sonnia received a phone call from her husband Thursday letting her know his location and why he was not on the rig. By Wednesday, the demonstrators began to grow and national television began broadcasting it. Sonnia and her family saw what was happening on TV and began to worry.

This past Friday they had no word on if David was OK or not.

“I was very concerned,” said Sonnia. “We had a lot prayers being said. I know David has been in similar situations in different parts of the world, but I was never able to see it on TV. “

After not hearing from her husband over a 24-hour period, she finally received word at 10:30 a.m. Saturday when she was in Wal-Mart.

“I cried,” she said. “I had a call list of people to call.”

Sunday morning TransOcean charted a jet and flew all of its workers out of Egypt. All of the employees on the rig David was on left with him.

He returned to Delcambre Tuesday night and will remain here until things quiet down in Egypt.

“Never did I think I was in danger,” David said.

The two have been married for 33 years. “Our love grows stronger each year we are married,” she said. “I do not know what I would do without him.”