A father jumped off a Disney cruise ship and into the Atlantic Ocean to save his young daughter after she fell overboard.
The pair had been onboard the ‘Disney Dream’ boat as it was sailing back to Fort Lauderdale in the US from a four-day trip to the Caribbean, when the terrifying incident occurred on Sunday.
Incredibly the dad managed to reach the child and keep her safe until a rescue boat from the cruise ship arrived.
A video, shared on TikTok, shows him treading water with the daughter in his arms, before handing her over to rescuers.
Passengers can be seen watching from the 3,500-capacity ship and cheering once they saw the father and child were safe.
Several people posted about the dramatic rescue on social media afterwards.
‘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,” wrote Kevin Furuta on Facebook.
‘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!’
MOB is the code for ‘man overboard.’
Another passenger, Shannon Pechaek Lindholm, shared an image of the rescue boat and posted: ‘This was the boat that went in and brought them BOTH back safely.’
She added: ‘DCL [Disney Cruise Line] for the win! It was a fast and furious quick rescue, truly a miracle x2.’
Tiffany Craven, meanwhile, wrote: ‘That’s terrifying!!! Thank goodness for the happy ending though. Makes me anxious with my 4 year old now though!’
One person wrote that the father treaded water for ‘at least 20 minutes’ before they were rescued.
A Disney Cruise Line spokesperson told Metro: ‘The crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water. 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.’
It is not clear how she managed to fall off the boat.
Incidents of people falling off cruise ships are rare but when they happen are often fatal.
A British tourist fell off the Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas ship while it was sailing in Croatia in August last year.
The search for the man was called off after four days.
In 2018 a British woman managed to survive 10 hours in the Adriatic Sea after falling off the back of a cruise ship.
Kay Longstaff, then 46, believed being fit from yoga kept her alive.
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