The Coast Guard officials hailed the rescue as a “thanksgiving miracle”.
The Coast Guard officials hailed the rescue as a “thanksgiving miracle”.
A passenger was rescued from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday evening after falling overboard from a cruise ship. Some officials of the US Coast Guard (USCG) were quick to cite the rescue as an event nothing short of a “Thanksgiving miracle”.
On Thursday evening, the coast guard located a 28-year-old man in the sea about 20 miles south of Southwest Pass, Louisiana, after he reportedly fell overboard the New Orleans-to-Mexico Carnival valor cruise ship on Wednesday evening.
Carnival officials told CNN that the man was reported missing on Thanksgiving Day after he walked away from his sister at an onboard bar “to use the bathroom”. The man never returned. Soon, his sister alerted the Cruise ship officials, following which the latter alerted the Coast Guard about the missing passenger. The Coast Guard swiftly launched a rescue operation.
“At 8:25 p.m., a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew rescued the 28-year-old male who had fallen overboard from the Carnival Valor on Wednesday evening. The aircrew was vectored into the area by the bulk carrier CRINIS who had observed a person in the water. The Jayhawk aircrew hoisted the man onto the helicopter and transferred him to awaiting emergency medical services at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport,” the US Coast Guard said in a statement.
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“We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome,” said Lt. Seth Gross, a Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator. “It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchstanders, response crews, and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and get him to safety. If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending.”
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The man, upon rescue, was able to identify his name and confirmed that he fell overboard.
The man showed signs of hypothermia, shock and dehydration but was reported to be in stable condition after a brief time of recovery following the rescue.
“The will to live is something you have to account for in every search and rescue case. This is one of the absolutely longest (times in the water) I’ve heard about and one of those Thanksgiving miracles,” Lt Seth Gross was quoted as saying by CNN.
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