Police have shared more details about how a five-year-old girl fell overboard while on a Disney cruise ship on its way back to South Florida in June.
The alarming moment turned into a harrowing rescue after the girl’s father leapt into the ocean to save his daughter on June 29. Both father and daughter were pulled from the water by a Disney rescue team.
In a police report obtained by People magazine, authorities said the girl’s mother encouraged the five-year-old to get up on the railing of the ship and pose for a photo in an open porthole before she went overboard.
The report, released by Florida’s Broward County Sheriff’s Office, stated that the family was walking on the fourth deck of the ship when “they stopped to take a photo of the daughter.”
The mother allegedly “pointed to the porthole railing and the daughter climbed on the railing and sat down. The daughter lost her balance and fell backward off the railing into the ocean,” according to the report.
It also states that the girl fell backwards into the ocean, approximately 49 feet down, at 11:29 a.m. local time. Less than a minute later, her father jumped into the water to help her. Rescue crews launched their boats at 11:40 a.m. and successfully retrieved the pair at 11:49 a.m. They were both transported to the ship’s medical centre for treatment about 10 minutes later.
The father was then taken to Broward Health Medical Centre where he was treated for injuries. His daughter sustained no injuries.
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.
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“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.
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 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.
The girl’s parents were questioned by Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies and gave identical accounts that matched the security camera footage.
During the mother’s questioning, she shared the photos taken before and during the fall. Police noted that they were “live pictures, and when streamed together, depict a few second video of the child getting up on the railing, and falling backwards into the water.”
The mother said she “felt like there should be coverings on the windows, and cited that Disney is responsible for what had occurred.”
The father was reportedly walking ahead of his wife and daughter when the incident took place. When he turned around and “observed his daughter in the water [he] initially ran to get help but, after approximately 45 seconds, decided to jump into the ocean to attempt a rescue,” police said.
The mother “screamed for help and tried to maintain visual contact with both the child and her husband as the ship turned.”
Criminal charges were recommended against the mother, however Florida’s state attorney declined to prosecute, according to court documents viewed by the New York Post.
“Upon looking at the window myself, as a prudent person, I immediately saw that the window was open to the air, and did not have a covering,” Det. Christopher Favitta wrote in his report.
“This act, facilitated by [the mother] placed the child in a life-threatening situation. As a result, the child fell from the ship and into the water, in an avoidable accident,” he added.
Despite Favitta’s report, the Broward County State Attorney’s Office closed the case without filing charges against the mother.
“While the defendant’s conduct is arguably negligent and irresponsible, it does not rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence,” assistant state attorney Melissa Kelly wrote.
According to a 2020 report from the Cruise Lines International Association, the chances of going overboard on a cruise ship 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
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