Heroic Rescue on Disney Cruise: A Father’s Daring Act

By Elizabeth Prata

‘My little girl fell overboard!” This is not something any parent wants to experience. A family aboard the Disney Dream cruise ship was on Deck 4, playing shuffleboard. It was a sunny, calm morning on June 29 as the ship headed back from The Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale. The mom saw her 5-year-old girl clamber on to the 5’ porthole ledge, then horrifyingly, fall into the ocean. Yelling to the dad, without a second’s hesitation, dad jumped into the ocean after her.

He swam to her and held her and tread water until the rescue boat a short time later plucked them both out of the sea. The entire incident took about 20 minutes from the first ‘Man overboard!” to the deployment of the rescue team, launch the boat, search, retrieval, and return to the ship. This is an amazing response time.

There is video recorded from passengers who were on the deck when the incident occurred. If you search you will see it. One of the hardest things to see in the ocean is a human’s head bobbing in the waves. If the waves were higher or if the incident occurred at dusk, dawn, or night, it would be nearly impossible.

Fewer than 19% of known man overboard incidents result in a successful recovery, according to the U.S. Coast Guard data. For example, a Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) report from 2019 indicated that out of 25 people who fell overboard, only 9 were rescued. Bad odds.

The Disney Crew did a superb job with this response! Sea rescues are notoriously difficult and rarely successful. Thank the Lord it was daytime and the seas were calm.

Once docked at Fort Lauderdale, the Broward County Florida Sheriffs Office conducted an investigation, taking witness statements and viewing security video footage. The investigation concluded the parents were not negligent. The father was subsequently hospitalized. No names or other details have been issued, with the Sheriffs Office saying they will maintain the family’s privacy.

Sadly, viral and vicious rumors surfaced immediately after the event speculating the dad had ignorantly placed the girl on the railing in order to take a photo. To be sure, other cruise passengers had gone overboard in this manner, and others who had fatally perched themselves on high railings on precipices and cliffs on land have plunged to their death, as we see occasionally in the news.

Along the deck 4 walkway, there are some large portholes as well as the more standard railing. Like the railing, the portholes have some some short barricades to keep guests from leaning too far over. However, they do not cover the whole porthole, and the upper section is open…. (Source)

Why am I writing about this? Firstly, I’m fascinated with any marine incident. Ships, boats, and submarines are of interest to me. The Titan sub event, the Brooklyn Bridge Mexican Navy ship allision, the Disney cruiser overboard…all interesting.

Additionally, successful rescues are something to praise the Lord for. In fact, the passengers viewing and filming the rescue all cheered joyously when the pair were plucked from the sea and placed in the rescue boat.

But also, there is a spiritual reason. DADS. Patriarchy. Masculinity.

Feminism has severely impacted our society’s view of maleness. The generations-long criticism of traditional masculinity has done a number on men being men. Harpies, shrews, and MeToos have often improperly linked traditional masculinity with power, dominance, and a negative perception of patriarchal Christianity.

They think (wrongly) that gender roles social are unhitched from biological differences, and that men and women, in essence, can be equally swapped. No.

Further, feminism has insisted that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” as the 1970s slogan went. One-parent households were fine, more than fine if led by a woman.

But we see in this incident, and I know I’m using a one-time anecdote to make a point, two parents are better than one. And one parent should be a man and the other parent should be a woman. The adults should be married to each other. In this case, the mom saw the girl fall overboard and told the dad. Mom observed, and dad did. Dad took immediate action. Immediate.

The ultimate privilege in America is not being born white or straight or male. The ultimate privilege, as Melissa Kearney argues, is being born into a household with two parents Melissa Kearney is an economist at the University of Maryland and her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind, argues that declining marriage rates in America—and the corresponding rise in children being raised in single parent households—are driving many of the country’s biggest economic problems. (Source).

The Bible opens with a narrative that confirms that the man needs a helper, and that the two should become one. No other arrangement was found for Adam the man, except the woman. Further, they shall leave their parents and cleave unto one another and raise the children in the admonition of the Lord. That is how our God arranged our lives and for most of us, marriage between a man and a woman and having the blessing of children is the way of life.

Yes, some are consecrated to be single and other couples remain childless, but mainly, a married dad and a mom are the foundations of society. This is why satan has worked so hard to interrupt, corrupt, and disrupt this family unit. He has been largely successful, too.

Let our eyes remain on Christ and His standards, His ordinations, and His sacraments. His methods are best. Love the fathers and love the mothers. Encourage younger ladies to marry a solid Christian man and encourage this man in all the Lord wants for him to be and do.

I am grateful that the child was rescued. I pray the father recovers from his hospital stay. I hope the mom cherishes and holds her child close after nearly losing her. The naysayers on social media are still crabbing about the supposedly neglectful parents, but anyone with a small child knows how fast small kids go and how quickly a lazy, fun morning can turn into tragedy. I’m glad this tragedy was averted. Thanks to the DAD.

And the Lord above.