A horrifying moment turned into a harrowing rescue when a father leapt into the ocean to save his daughter, who fell overboard while on a Disney cruise ship on its way back to South Florida.
Crew members from the Disney Dream rescue team pulled the girl and her father into a small boat on Sunday as the cruise ship was returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from the Bahamas on the last day of the voyage, according to Disney and passengers who recorded the rescue on video.
Passengers were alerted that someone had fallen overboard by an announcement over the ship’s loudspeakers, passenger Kevin Furuta said in a social media post.
“On the last day of our Dream voyage and it is an at Sea Day. A girl fell overboard from the 4th deck & her dad went in after her. Right after the incident we heard on the loud speaker MOB Port side!! Thankfully the DCL rescue team was on it immediately and both were saved,” he wrote in the Facebook group Disney Dream Cruise Ship Group.
Passenger Laura Amador told CBS News that the ship was “moving quickly” when the girl fell overboard from the fourth deck.
“It’s crazy how quickly the people became tiny dots in the sea, and then you lost sight of them. The captain slowed the ship and turned it around, and then they deployed a tender ship with people on it to go get them, and we saw them rescue the dad and daughter,” Amador added.
A TikTok video shared by user Noeayala32 showed the man treading water with his daughter in his arms. He handed her over to the Disney Dream rescue team before getting in the boat.
In a second video, shared from the same account, the girl is sitting close to a woman as the boat is lifted back to the cruise ship.
In a statement, a Disney 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.”
“We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols,” the company added.
According to a 2020 report from the Cruise Lines International Association, the odds of going overboard are unlikely.
From 2009 to 2019, there were 212 people reported overboard, with 48 of those passengers successfully rescued. Year over year, there has been a “significant decline” in both the number of overboard incidents and the number of fatalities.
— With files from The Associated Press