Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British man who had been visiting relatives in India, was sitting in seat 11A and somehow suffered only minor facial injuries when the Gatwick-bound Boeing 787 crashed shortly after take off in Ahmedabad.
Ms Herfkens, 64, has a unique insight into what Mr Ramesh is now going through.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is visited by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo: AFP)
On 14 November, 1992, Vietnam Airlines flight 474 came down in the mountains on its approach to Nha Trang airport killing 24 passengers and six crew.
She believes it may have been because of an impulsive decision not to wear her seatbelt – she was nervous about flying on such a small plane and the belt made her feel more claustrophobic.
“I went round and round and then I woke up under the seat of another dead person.
Wreckage of Vietnam Airlines flight 474 which crashed in 1992 (Photo: Supplied)“It was complete chaos.”
‘It was never about me – it was about my beloved fiance’
Looking back, she says the pain of her injuries was secondary to the grief of having lost partner Willem – the pair had been together for 13 years and were planning their wedding when he was killed in the crash.
Annette and her fiance Willem van der Pas had been planning their wedding before the tragic crash (Photo: Supplied)
“He’s not dealing with the fact he survived a plane crash, he’s dealing with the fact that his brother died,” Ms Herfkens said.
“You wake up, it’s very fast, and you discover your loved one is dead next to you – that’s what happened to me, it was never about me it was about my beloved [Willem].
“So that’s always my first thought ‘oh my god they are going to hunt him down’. You’re not a celebrity by choice, you’re a celebrity by misery.
Mr Ramesh, a textiles worker from Leicester, is said to have told family that he remembers “a loud noise” before the crash and then came round to find bodies all around him.
He is now in hospital where he has already been interviewed by TV crews.
“Everywhere someone was taking pictures of my broken face,” she added.
Herfkens has returned to Vietnam since her life changing experience (Photo: supplied)“One day he [Mr Ramesh] will say ‘hey I’m a member of the lone survivor club’ and then that’s when you start deciding if that’s part of your identity or not,” she said.
“Another thing I say now is please don’t ask him ‘do you have survivor’s guilt?’
“I’ve had all kinds of answers… and it’s like people almost talk you into it.
‘Why me? Why not?’
After the Vietnam crash, Ms Herfkens went on to marry a colleague Jaime Lupa and moved to New York where she had two children, Joosje who is 28 and Max who is 26.
It took Herfkens several years to be ready to tell her story (Photo: supplied)
“You have to overcome your ego, your fears and do the right thing,” she said.
“It’s like ‘why me? why not?’ It’s all random, I don’t believe in predestination, I’m spiritual, and I did have a spiritual experience in the jungle but… life throws you stuff and you try to handle it the best [you can],” she said.
“You have to accept things for the way it is and not the way it should be.”
Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lies at the site where the Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025 (Photo: Amit Dave/Reuters)“But eventually yes, as you process the whole thing, you are aware that you are a member of a very small club.
“In the end he will be happy to survive, I hope.”
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