A judge has reserved his decision on whether a former Canadian sailor can sue Swissair over the crash of Flight 111 in 1998.

Lorne Joudrey left the navy after suffering port-traumatic stress after weeks of work recovering body parts from the ocean. In court, he described the difficult process of trying to identify the parts of the 289 people who died when the jumbo jet crashed off the Nova Scotia coast.

Joudrey, a sailor onboard HMCS Preserver says he saw gruesome images and on one occasion, he says, a body bag he was carrying burst open, with human flesh and fluids spilling out over him.

Lorne Joudrey (CP file photo)

"I spent 18 years in the navy and I don't know of any job where we had to do what we did," he said.

A month later, he says he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Two years later, the military discharged him because he was unfit for duty. He's suing Swissair for psychological damages.

Joudrey wasn't alone in the search; there were hundreds of people involved from military personnel to local fishermen, but Joudrey is the only one suing Swissair.

His lawyer, Cathy Dalziel, says "he's had a difficult time emotionally since his experience."

Joudrey says he suing Swissair because it was the company's negligence that destroyed his life. "I'm divorced now. I lost my career. I'm here to start over."

A judge in Nova Scotia's Supreme Court will decide later this year whether the case can proceed.