After his five-year-old daughter fell overboard, a father dove off a Disney Dream cruise ship in a dramatic rescue, officials said.
The four-night cruise was returning to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday after making a trip to Disney’s Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point in the Bahamas.
The father’s name has not been publicly released, but passenger Gar Frantz said he was on the fourth-floor deck when the incident occurred. He said he saw a child sitting on the railing of the cruise ship while a man took a picture, then the child fell overboard.
“We watched it, you could see two little things. … It was crazy, it was horrific,” Frantz said of seeing the tragedy unfold, per NBC News.
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Another passenger, Gail Merrick, told the outlet that she saw and heard the commotion and noticed a yellow lifeboat in the water.
“We came to find out that it was a child and then the father had gone in after the child, so we were watching with bated breath basically waiting for what would happen,” Merrick said.
A witness on the ship described the sound of the child hitting the water, per People. “It sounded like hitting pavement, nothing like if you jump into a pool, it was so loud,” the woman, identified only as Chandler, told the outlet. “Then this awful scream from what I assume is the mother and then this massive splash.”
She also uploaded footage of the rescue to TikTok.
Disney confirmed that the cruise ship crew “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,” a statement from the company said. “We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”
