Passenger falls off one cruise ship, gets rescued by another
A man who fell overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico, was rescued hours later by a passing Disney Cruise Line ship after a passenger heard him calling for help, ABC News reports.
The 22-year-old man, who was not identified by authorities, somehow fell off the Royal Caribbean ship during the early-morning hours of Jan 8, according to ABC.
Scott Campbell, a passenger on the Disney ship, told ABC he was on his balcony with his daughter at about 6.30am when he heard the man calling for help.
"I'll never forget the scream, 'Somebody help me,'" Campbell told the network.
A Disney spokeswoman confirmed the Disney Magic cruise ship picked up a passenger who had fallen overboard from another cruise ship on Jan 8 but declined further comment.
Video of the rescue shows the man swimming through choppy seas toward an orange lifeboat apparently launched by the Disney ship.
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Cozumel Port Captain Alfonso Rodriguez told CNN that the man, who does not remember how he fell into the water, was treated at a local hospital before being flown back to the United States.
"This man was reborn. Most people that experience, that kind of fall, break their neck. It’s like hitting concrete,” Rodriguez told CNN.
A passenger on the Disney Magic cruiseliner heard the man's calls for help.
Representatives for Royal Caribbean Cruises and Disney Cruise Line did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; and Joanna Bernstein in Mexico City; Editing by Eric Beech)
