The high seas can be perilous, despite the best efforts of cruise ships to protect passengers from going overboard. So when a passenger on a Royal Caribbean Cruise somehow ended up in the water, he was extremely lucky that a Disney cruise ship happened to come by a few hours later to rescue him.
A man who says he doesn’t know how he ended up in the water after leaving the deck of the Royal Carribean ship Oasis of the Seas off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico was spotted by passengers aboard the Disney Magic, reports CNN.
“The man was traveling in the Oasis (of the Seas). It was early in the morning. He doesn’t remember how he fell. Fortunately, another cruise, the Disney Magic, saw him,” said Cozumel’s port captain.
The 22-year-old U.S. was reportedly in the water for five hours total. He went in around 6:07 a.m., according to closed-circuit TV footage from the Royal Carribean ship. Around 7:31 a.m., someone who was up early on the Disney ship saw him and tried throwing lifesavers in to help.
He was eventually rescued and given medical attention before going to a local hospital. He’s reportedly in good condition now, and will be returning to the U.S. soon.
“This man was reborn. Most people that experience that kind of fall break their neck. It’s like hitting concrete,” the port captain said.
A Disney Magic passenger managed to record the rescue in a video, showing a yellow rescue boat on the dark ocean heading for someone in the water.
“We were in our stateroom. On the speaker system, we heard the crew saying ‘Mister M-O-B, starboard side.’ I got dressed and went up to the upper deck,” the passenger who filmed the rescue explained of the “man overboard” alert.
“There were no other guests or crew around at the time,” said a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman, adding, “For their (passengers’) safety, we recommend that guests not lean over or climb on any railing.” Those railings are a minimum of 42 inches high.
Man falls from one cruise ship, is rescued by another five hours later [CNN]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist