A brother and sister pair who boarded the cruise ship Carnival Valor that sailed from New Orleans on Thanksgiving eve, couldn’t have been prepared for the miracle their family was going to be experiencing this year.
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As reported by CNN Travel, the pair were on a holiday and hit the bar aboard the ship. At some point the 28-year-old man left the bar to use the restroom. He did not come back even after hours has passed. What followed the disappearance of the man from the cruise ship, is an epic survival tale no one could have fathomed.
Search for the missing man
The man went missing around 11 A.M., and his sister officially reported him missing the next day on Thanksgiving. Both of them have not been identified by the authorities yet.
As soon as the missing report was filed, authorities searched the ship for the passenger. The passengers on the cruise were also told that there would be a delay in the cruise's arrival time at their next port of call in Cozumel, Mexico.
The Coast Guard were also requested for their help with the search and very soon, an extensive sea and air search was carried out by the authorities for the missing passenger.
The miraculous conclusion to the search
After an intensive search, the rescue team spotted something floating in the sea around 8:25 P.M.; it was the missing passenger. He was quickly hoisted out of the water and onto a rescue helicopter.
The report quotes USCG Petty Officer Ryan Graves who said about the rescued man,
He was showing signs of hypothermia, shock, dehydration" but could walk and communicate.
The fact that he was able to keep himself afloat and above the surface of the water for such an extended period of time, it's just something you can't take for granted and certainly something that'll stick with me forever.
Rescuers deduce that the man must have been in the water for more than 15 hours. However, the details of what exactly happened and how the man fell are still unavailable. It is reported that the man is receiving medical care and in a stable condition as of now.
Sources used:
CNN Travel: ‘A man went missing from a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. What happened next might well be a 'Thanksgiving miracle'’
