Major update as girl who fell overboard from Disney Cruise is saved by hero dad
Police have released remarkable new details about the hero dad who rescued his five-year-old daughter after she fell overboard on a Disney cruise.
The nail-biting incident unfolded on June 29 aboard the Disney Dream cruise as it returned to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, following a four-day voyage around the Bahamas. Passengers on the ship described how the father leapt into the sea to go after his daughter when she fell from the railings into the sea below, before swimming over to her to keep her afloat until help arrived. The pair were brought back onto the ship by a rescue boat about 10 minutes later. Now, police have released a more detailed account of how the miraculous rescue played out - and corrected some harmful online speculation, which erroneously claimed the dad had placed the girl on the railings himself for a photograph.
According to the new statement from the Broward Sheriff's Office, the five-year-old girl "lost her balance while sitting on a railing" and fell backwards through a porthole.
Her father didn't see the fall - but quickly jumped into the water to her rescue after her mother told him what had happened. The statement reads: "The incident occurred at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday, June 29, on deck 4 of a Disney cruise ship, while the ship was in international waters somewhere between the Bahamas and Port Everglades.
"Broward Sheriff's Office detectives continue to investigate the moments before a 5-year-old girl lost her balance while sitting on a railing and falling backward through a porthole. After the girl's mother alerted her husband, who didn't see the incident, he jumped into the ocean to save his daughter.
"BSO detectives said after the 37-year-old father found his daughter, he treaded water until they were rescued by a tender that was launched from the ship.
"The crew's 'man overboard' training and readiness paid off because they executed a successful ocean rescue. BSO investigators said the total time from the child's accidental fall to the rescue was about 20 minutes. Once rescued, the father and daughter were checked out by the ship's medical staff.
"And after the ship arrived Monday morning at Port Everglades, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue transported them to an area hospital. The father was hospitalised. The family lives out of state. For the family's continued privacy, detectives are not releasing their names, where they live, or the details of the father's injury.
Police said an investigation into the incident continues, adding: "This family is so blessed. It's great to be able to respond to good news rather than what could have been a tragic outcome."
The Disney Dream - a cruise ship with 14 decks and a capacity of 4,000 passengers - continued on to Florida as scheduled.
Falls from cruise ships are often fatal. One industry report in 2019 found that only nine of 25 people who fell overboard that year survived.
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ITV News
3 hours ago
- ITV News
Police reveal how girl fell from Disney cruise ship before being saved by father
Police have revealed how a five-year-old girl who fell from a Disney Cruise ship into the sea was saved by her father. On the morning of June 29, the girl lost her balance while sitting on a railing and fell through a porthole into the ocean from the fourth deck of the ship into the water. Florida police have now clarified the girl's father was unaware of the accident until the mother alerted him. Officers said he then "jumped into the ocean to save his daughter". Footage filmed by passengers showed the moment a small boat rescued the father and daughter. Police added: "After the 37-year-old father found his daughter, he treaded water until they were rescued by a tender that was launched from the ship." Roughly 20 minutes later, they were rescued by an emergency vessel launched by the cruise liner and were taken to see medical staff and the father was later hospitalised. Broward Sheriff's Office said: "The family lives out of state. "For the family's continued privacy, detectives are not releasing their names, where they live, or the details of the father's injury." Police said an investigation into the incident continues, adding: "This family is so blessed. It's great to be able to respond to good news rather than what could have been a tragic outcome." The incident took place on the last day of the cruise, as the ship was returning from the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale. Passengers talking to local media after the rescue expressed shock at how quickly the situation escalated. Passengers on board the cruise ship describe what they saw. "The ship was moving quickly, so quickly, it's crazy how quickly the people became tiny dots in the sea, and then you lost sight of them," passenger Laura Amador said. Another said it was clear how tiring the experience was for the father saying: "You could tell that he was really struggling, he'd been treading water for 15-20 minutes." Police released the statement after the speculation online that the father was taking a photo of his daughter against a railing on the fourth deck when she fell into the water. In a statement at the time of the incident, Disney praised the quick work of their crew members in a statement. "The Crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water," a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said. "We commend our Crew Members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes." It is rare for passengers to fall overboard from cruise ships, and data from the Cruise Lines International Association shows the number of incidents is falling. Falling overboard is extremely dangerous, in 2019, 25 incidents were recorded, and only nine of them were rescued.
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