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May 7, 2010

When she was 11 years old, Tere Duperrault Fassbender survived an ordeal that she has been silent about for the last 50 years. However, Fassbender is now ready to tell her story.

While on a boat on vacation with her family off of the coast of Florida in the fall of 1961, Fassbender awoke to find her family murdered by the captain of the boat they had rented, and the homicidal captain was getting ready to sink the boat with her on it.

She jumped from the ship on to a flotation device that was tied to the ship, and while the captain made his way to her she untied the plank and began to drift away.

She remained at sea for almost four days without food or water, clinging to that floating board and unsure of what would happen to her, but was eventually found exhausted and sunburned but still alive.

Fassbender, who wrote a book about the ordeal, titled Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean, recently talked to NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer about the experience.

"I thought that I was spared for a reason, and the reason would be to help other people," she said on the program. "I would just hope I could help someone after they read the book to give them inspiration."

Being lost at sea for so long can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) there are 7.7 million people 18 and older diagnosed who have been diagnosed with PTSD in America.

The most common form of treatment for people with PTSD is psychotherapy that allowed to talk through the even and discuss what may be causing them to feel anxiety and depression.

The National Center for PTSD provides resources for veterans suffering from PTSD as well as the general public.

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