A Massachusetts mother recalled the harrowing turn of her family’s cruise aboard after her son experienced a life-threatening medical emergency 350 nautical miles from the nearest hospital on land.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Venice set sail from New York City on April 26 for a 10-day cruise. bahamas and through the Caribbean Sea. However, several days after the trip, the ship’s medics performed an X-ray and determined that 12-year-old Aiden had a perforated intestine and required immediate surgery.
The rescue team flew 1,200 miles over eight hours and required three air-to-air refuelings to transport lifeguard mother Angela Bridges and her son from a ship in the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Air Force’s 920th Rescue Wing said.
Dramatic photos posted by the group showed the boy and his mother being hoisted into one of two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters that came to the rescue. Two HC-130J Combat King II aircraft and two teams of combat rescue personnel based at Patrick Space Force Base in Florida were on the scene.
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Angela Bridges and her seriously ill son Aiden were flown from a remote mid-Atlantic region to a US hospital in North Carolina on Saturday. (SWNS)
“Honestly, being hoisted up there was a lot less scary than I thought it would be,” Bridges told FOX News Digital. “Watching them put him in the basket and pull him up was much scarier than climbing in the basket myself.”
Mr Bridges said the boy was frighteningly “unresponsive” during the rescue, but was still recovering from the “traumatic” experience.
Bridges said of her son’s condition: “He’s much better than he was a few days ago. He’s definitely better than when he was on the boat.”
After surgery, doctors at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in North Carolina “still don’t know why this happened,” the mother said.
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Twelve-year-old Aiden is finally “getting back to his old self,” his mother told Fox News Digital. She said her experience of watching him hoisted into a hovering helicopter was “terrifying”. (Courtesy of Angela Bridges)
Bridges told Fox News Digital that her husband, stepdaughter, and 12-year-old son Aiden were excited about the 10-day trip to Venice, but their excitement turned to anxiety when the boy’s health rapidly deteriorated. said.
Aiden couldn’t keep his food down for several days, but since it was his first cruise trip, his family initially thought he was seasick or had eaten too much at the ship’s buffet. It is said that
“He was just throwing up and didn’t seem okay,” Bridges said.
Medical staff determined they could not save the boy and rescue services were called. But Bridges was surprised by the lengths staff went to to keep her, her family and her son comfortable.
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Aiden and his mother, Angela Bridges, were lifted from the deck of Carnival Venice by a U.S. Air Force 920th Rescue Wing helicopter. (SWNS)
“I’m not a medical professional by any means, but I know a lot of medical stuff. They handled the situation amazingly. Their communication, the overall service to Aiden and I, and to my husband and daughter. The support…they were amazing,” Bridges said.
Officials comforted him and administered anti-anxiety medication before he was hoisted into a roaring helicopter.
“They brought me food just before I had to get on the helicopter to make sure I had something to eat. We were expecting a three or four hour flight. ” Bridges said.
The team transported them to a North Carolina hospital in just an hour and a half, she said.
Angela Bridges was pictured boarding the Venice Carnival with her husband, 12-year-old son Aiden, and 12-year-old stepdaughter before their family vacation took a horrifying turn. (Courtesy of Angela Bridges)
Bridges said she couldn’t hear anything at the time over the roar of the helicopter, but she later watched a video of the rescue online and was moved by the reactions of the other passengers.
“One of them finished and the helicopter started flying off the ship and people were clapping and cheering. It was so heartwarming to see,” his mother wrote on GoFundMe for the boy’s medical expenses. Ta. “It made me cry.”
After the woman and her son were rescued, the mother said the cruise line upgraded the family’s internet service for free so they could stay in touch. Bridge’s husband and her stepdaughter had to remain on the ship.
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“If you want to cancel, you have to give us 28 to 48 hours’ notice because you already had a tour that you paid for,” Bridges exclaimed. “At least with Aiden, we were able to cancel the trip, and we were able to cancel his ticket, too, and they didn’t charge us.”
“We also had a trip planned for all four of us to the Dominican Republic, but we canceled it all and we weren’t charged,” Bridges said.
In the end, her mother said, “Carnival took care of me.” [her family] In every way I wanted. ”
The mother of two said she wasn’t sure if she would take another cruise after the experience.
“I can tell you that all of this makes me think a lot,” Bridges said. “On the one hand, this was a really bad situation, but we didn’t expect it at all. When it happens on a cruise, it’s even worse.”
“But on the other hand, the way the situation was handled by Carnival and all the staff on the ship was kind of a back-and-forth to me,” Bridges said. “If you think about it, do you really want to go on another cruise or not?”
