Community Chat

[Oznell]

In case you missed it on the news, on Sunday, a little girl  (about 5) on a Disney Cruise ship fell from the ship's Deck 4 right into the ocean.

Immediately, her father jumped in after her--  thankfully, he got ahold of her and started treading water.

A file photo of the type of Disney ship they were on:

The ship was able to regroup and send a small boat to go get them.  I think you can see the dark form of the father in the water, on the right side of the little rescue boat before they pulled them in:

Terrifying while happening. A passenger reported seeing the mother crying.  Another said that the ship was moving away so fast, the two people overboard quickly looked like little specks in the ocean.  Another started praying.

Sounds like that father took that leap after his child, almost without thinking-- the golden parental instinct to protect his child kicked right in.  So nice to have a happy end to what could have been a very terrible tragedy. 

[beach-mom]

@Oznell - Thank you for sharing this. I've never been on a cruise ship, but from the pictures Deck 4 looks like it's pretty high up.

This was a very lucky little girl. Even though her father jumped right in she could have been gone under the waves in an instant. And the ship moving forward so quickly. . . 

I'm so glad this ended the way it did!  

[catter70]

Glad it ended well, but how the heck did it happen to begin with?

[Northray]

Good for the dad.  He's a hero.  But so many questions. 

[I am still oxox]

Too many questions pop up in my mind, why is a 4 year old allowed near the rails alone? Why wasnt she supervised more? And a million more.  

[alliswell]

[SamBrown]

Considering the dad put the child on the railing to take a photo doesn't make him a hero.

[UpNorthGorgy]

Remember the toddler who was killed on a cruise ship and fell? Quite a few years ago now. I recall quite a lawsuit with the family suing  the cruise line accusing them of not putting up better barriers. It involved Grandparents and question of a lack of their supervision?

Very frightening, scary situation. Thank God this turned out well! 

[Lucky Charm]

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@SamBrown wrote:

Considering the dad put the child on the railing to take a photo doesn't make him a hero.

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OMGosh is that what happened?  That is horrible.

But I'm glad the child was saved and I hope going to be okay.

[Oznell]

So far, I haven't seen an *official* report that the father put his little girl on the railing for picture-taking-- just comments from the company that the incident is 'under investigation'.

But, there have been postings by Facebook users, that that's what happened.

Regardless, to my mind, he still responded with speed and certainly courage, once she went over.  By herself in that vast soup, she would have not lasted.

That he immediately jumped, and was able to get to her at all, let alone in time, and keep them both above water, is fantastic.  The ocean is unforgiving, and there was a good chance that neither of them would be spotted and retrieved in time. 

I bet that was the longest 10 to 20 minutes of water-treading that he ever had the misfortune to experience.