The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a 74-year-old woman who was headed to Mexico on a cruise ship, about 86 miles southwest of San Diego Monday.
At about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector San Diego received a call about a woman having severe abdominal pain on the cruise ship called Star Princess, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
A duty flight surgeon with the U.S. Coast Guard asked for the patient to be medically evacuated and taken to a hospital for emergency care, said a U.S. Coast Guard official. When they got the report, the ship was located more than 400 miles southwest of San Diego en route to Ensenada, Mexico.
It was so far away that the ship was asked to return slightly closer to San Diego, at a carefully selected position, said U.S. Coast Guard officials.
A Jayhawk helicopter crew from the Coast Guard Sector San Diego was launched at 6 a.m. Monday and safely hoisted the woman from the ship at about 7:20 a.m.
"While most people are enjoying a long President's Day Weekend, we can't forget illness and injury don't take holidays," said Lt. Tim Nicolet, aircraft commander and pilot of the Jayhawk, in a statement.
"Fortunately for this patient, neither do we. Protecting lives at sea is paramount to what we do and I'm proud to have been a part of this exceptional crew and this rescue effort," said Lt. Nicolet.
Local
The patient was returned to Sector San Diego at 8 a.m. and taken to the UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest. There were no further details available yet on her condition.
