A 12-year-old boy who was in critical condition had to be medically evacuated from a Carnival cruise ship. The Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing performed the air evacuation on Saturday, as the ship was more than 350 miles offshore, according to a press release by the combat search and rescue wing.
Aiden Bridges and his family were on the Carnival Venezia cruise ship, which was returning to New York from the Caribbean, when he “fell ill,” according to a GoFundMe page set up by Aiden’s mother, Angela Bridges.
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The pre-teen went to the ship’s medical crew, where he received an X-ray and discovered he had a bowel rupture. The onboard doctors informed the family that they needed to medically evacuate Aiden immediately to a hospital in North Carolina for urgent surgery.
The ship was on a sea day at the time, and it was due to return to New York on Monday.
“Carnival Venezia’s team worked with United States Coast Guard and Air Force officials to adjust its course Saturday so that a medical helicopter could rendezvous with the ship when a guest on board needed treatment ashore,” Janna Rowell, a Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson, told USA TODAY via email.
Within hours of receiving the call, the 920th Rescue Wing prepared and dispatched a rescue force from Florida that included two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, two HC-130J Combat King II aircraft, and two teams of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen to fly to the ship’s location, according to the news release. The 920th Rescue Wing utilized flight physicians to locate the treatment facility for Aiden.
“Everyone in the wing mobilized quite quickly. “We saved critical time by coordinating our efforts, delivering life-saving assistance six hours ahead of other response teams,” stated Capt. Dylan Gann, 301st Rescue Squadron pilot, in the announcement.
Because of the ship’s isolated location, the helicopters had to perform air-to-air refueling. They hauled pararescues down to the ship’s deck and transferred Aiden and his mother to the helicopter.
Mira Simanovsky, who was also on the trip, told USA TODAY that the passengers were warned about a medical evacuation by an intercom announcement. Simanovsky was on her balcony when she noticed two helicopters and army planes circling the ship. She later walked to the deck to watch the rescue mission among the other guests.
“It was scary. “Everybody was crying,” she explained. An experienced cruiser with 35 sailings stated it was the first time she’d ever “seen anything like that.”
The crowd on the deck cheered and applauded as the lady and her son took off.
By the time the aircraft returned to the station, the rescue effort had lasted more than eight hours and covered nearly 1,000 kilometers.
Carnival stated that the ship subsequently resumed its trip to New York and landed Monday morning as planned.
Bridges wrote on the GoFundMe page, established to assist the family in covering Aiden’s insurance deductible and out-of-pocket medical expenses, “Thank you so much to everyone who has expressed well wishes, prayers, and good thoughts.” “I can’t express to everyone how in awe I am at the outpouring of kindness and support.”
On Tuesday, Bridges issued an update on Aiden, stating he “has a long road of recovery ahead of him.”
