They were just two words but they were the ones Liz Lowe had been longing to hear - "I've survived."

Teacher Liz was desperate for news of son Matt, caught up in the fury of Hurricane Ivan as it pounded the Cayman Islands for four days.

Then, after what seemed an eternity, her mobile phone trilled into life and up popped the text message she had been praying for.

As the storm subsided, medical student Matt, 24, finally managed to get a signal on his phone and message his mother thousands of miles away at home in Brighton.

Liz, a teacher at Brighton College, said: "It was an anxious time. I'm the worst type of mother when it comes to worrying. I was very relieved to hear he was okay but I still wasn't convinced until I actually saw him at the airport. That was just fantastic.

"I knew he would be alright but we and his girlfriend Maddy were a bit worried he might try to do something brave!"

Matt, who is in his final year at Bristol University, was one week into a two-month stay on the islands as part of his medical training.

Last night, safely back home, Matt told how he stared into the eye of Ivan the Terrible.

He said: "It was the scariest thing I have seen in my life. We could see trees being blown parallel to the ground. The wind and the rain were relentless.

"The atmosphere in the shelter I was in was so tense you could have cut it with a knife. Families were holding on to each other for dear life.

"When we finally emerged and saw what the hurricane had done we were in awe at the sheer power of it. I was just so glad to still be alive."

The hurricane, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, tore through the Caribbean, leaving at least 60 people dead. It unexpectedly changed course after leaving Jamaica, hitting the paradise island at the weekend.

Matt was working at a hospital in the Grand Cayman capital Georgetown when word came Ivan was on his way.

As the storm built, Matt and four colleagues fled with locals to a shelter in a school and watched helplessly as 150mph winds and 20ft waves battered the island, demolishing buildings, tearing up trees and tossing cars and boats into the air.

The darkest moment came when raging winds threatened to rip the roof off the shelter and Matt was told to move into a central room called the Last Resort.

Matt said: "At that point we thought, 'that's it - we're going to get blown away'."

However, the roof held and Matt saw out the storm in the shelter.

He and 600 islanders slept on blankets on the floor and survived on tins of corned beef and packets of crisps.

Matt said: "My friends and I huddled in a corner, trying to convince ourselves everything was going to be okay. We played endless card games to try to take our minds off what might happen. I kept trying to text mum and Maddy.

"Mum's a real worrier and I knew she would be pacing up and down. I kept hitting the send button and finally the message went."

When Matt emerged from the shelter, he was met with scenes of devastation.

He said: "The smell was overpowering. There was muddy, sewage-filled water everywhere, which had risen to 5ft in places. Palm trees were flat on the ground. Trees that were still standing had been stripped of their leaves.

"Buildings had been reduced to bare skeletons and in one area there was nothing left of the houses apart from the foundations and the plumbing. It was like looking at Roman ruins.

"Before Ivan the island looked like paradise. I was staying on a seven-mile long beach of pure white sand with palm trees and blue, blue sea full of coral reefs.

"When we came out of the shelter it looked more like the poorest slums of India."

Some Cayman residents have accused local authorities of playing down the scale of the damage in case it hits the valuable tourist trade.

Matt said: "Some also thought that as a British colony, we should have done more to help. It didn't seem like a lot of help was getting through.

"Some people were living on coconuts. Supermarkets have been destroyed and there was no water, electricity or sanitation. It will take at least six months to get back on their feet."

Matt and his university colleagues wanted to stay on and help with the clean-up operation but they were advised to return home.

After the storm, relieved islanders held a thanksgiving service.

Matt said: "Everyone who had been in the shelter attended. They were so thankful for getting out alive. I'm not religious myself but it was a really nice experience to be there, a real morale booster.

"People have said to me 'you must be so disappointed' not to have completed my time there but I just feel lucky.

"It has been an amazing experience but it hasn't ruined my life like it has for people on the island.

"I've always hated disaster movies. Now I like them even less."