A Disney cruise ship came to the rescue of a man who fell overboard from a Carnival ship in the Atlantic off the coast of south Florida early Thursday morning.
The Disney Wonder came close enough to the man, about 30 miles off Port St. Lucie, that it was able to rescue him around 12:45 a.m.
The ship was responding to a notification from the Coast Guard and the Carnival Sensation that the 34-year-old man had gone overboard. The Disney Wonder was in the area and joined a U.S. Coast Guard search.
Late this afternoon*- The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office now says it believes the man jumped overboard intentionally, reports Fox in Orlando. The story does not go on to elaborate other than to say he was hospitalized for minor back injuries and will receive a mental examination.
The man was reported to be “physically exhausted" after treading water for about an hour and a half before being brought to the hospital.
Disney "spokeswoman Rena Langley tells USA Today, “We're incredibly proud of our 
crew members who were able to locate the individual in distress and bring him safely aboard the Disney Wonder.”
Both of the ships were on their way back to Port Canaveral after a Bahamas cruise.
In a statement Carnival said, “Carnival wishes to extend its thanks and appreciation to the officers and crew of the Disney Wonder, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, for their assistance.”
Passenger, BigHeadDennis, as he is known in his Twitter profile, tweeted he could hear the Carnival passenger screaming in the water.
*InjuryBoard.com
twitter comments:
"A (drunk?) guy fell off a nearby Carnival ship. We could hear his screaming from the water. We stopped and dropped a lifeboat overboard.""The Captain got onto the PA system and asked everyone to keep quiet, so the lifeboat crew could pinpoint the guy from his yelling."The lifeboat crew scooped him up from the water before the Coast Guard helicopter over flight even reached us.""Safe and sound. I witnessed all of this while sitting on my balcony (girls asleep in the stateroom). WOW.""Guess that Disney Magic is REAL."
*Thanks for the pictures, Darcene!
1 comment:
he apparently was arguing with his girfriend and threatened to jump overbard so she said, "Go ahead!" and so he did.
What lengths we men go through to please our mates!
;-)
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