Feb 8 Breeze - Girl falls off pier in Jamacia

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

Anyone else see this? Watched this whole thing unfold from our balcony on the 6th floor. Ship security were pretty useless, stood there yelling at her. Threw a life ring and missed by 50 yards. Finally some else jumped in and swam with the life ring to her. Police eventually showed up on a jet ski and boat to take them both to safety.

 

What was pretty cool was that the guy that rescued the girl, shook hands with the ship security and then walked to port with his friends, still soaking wet.

 

012 by ronlord2, on Flickr

 

 

017 by ronlord2, on Flickr

 

019 by ronlord2, on Flickr

 

020 by ronlord2, on Flickr

 

022 by ronlord2, on Flickr

 

024 by ronlord2, on Flickr

[KPfromCT]

Wow!!! Nice to see that there are still good people out there, willing to help.

Looks like everyone was OK.:D:D

 

Hard to tell how old she was....

[mzloolue]

I was wondering about how old she was too.

Edited March 8, 2015 by mzloolue

[AngAndBoys]

I'm confused as to where this girl's parents were and why a stranger had to get in and help her? If it was one of mine, I'd have been in there before security ever showed up with a life ring. How old was she?

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

From what we could see, probably 20's. She wasn't a kid. Also she could not swim at all.

[AngAndBoys]

From what we could see, probably 20's. She wasn't a kid. Also she could not swim at all.

 

Oh! When you said girl, I thought kid. Makes more sense now.

[chengkp75]

"Missed by 50 yards?" Professional quarterbacks rarely throw a football 50 yards, let alone something as awkward as a life ring. How long was she in the water that she could have drifted 50 yards? Nothing in your photos shows anything more than 20-30 feet from the dock.

 

Once down the gangway, ship's security has no authority, and you don't know the local laws concerning "good Samaritan" acts when things eventually go wrong, so there is corporate liability issues. The security officers had no more justification to go in after her than the rest of the onlookers on the pier. The fact that they did get a life ring and throw it shows their concern.

[Elaine5715]

"Missed by 50 yards?" Professional quarterbacks rarely throw a football 50 yards, let alone something as awkward as a life ring. How long was she in the water that she could have drifted 50 yards? Nothing in your photos shows anything more than 20-30 feet from the dock.

 

Once down the gangway, ship's security has no authority, and you don't know the local laws concerning "good Samaritan" acts when things eventually go wrong, so there is corporate liability issues. The security officers had no more justification to go in after her than the rest of the onlookers on the pier. The fact that they did get a life ring and throw it shows their concern.

 

You are correct as usual.

If you are not trained in lifeguard rescue or are a strong swimmer, you should not jump in after another person in distress in the water. The only thing worse than one victim is two victims.

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

The guy that rescued her seemed to know what he was doing. He swam to the life ring first, then had the girl hang onto it, not him.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Rochesterboatingdotcom

[cruizinisthebest]

That yellow line on the pier is there for a reason. Glad to know she's o.k., but I surely hope she didn't jump in. She looks rather far out to have fallen.

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

Best we could figure was she was taking a selfie with the ship in the background and stumbled off the pier walking backwards.

[SailsHigh]

50 yards?? lolzzz I hardly doubt it was 50 yards, maybe 10 ft, but 50 yards.... Get those eyes checked!

[isaiahsnana]

We saw a guy jump in at the Cozumel port from our balcony on the Magic. He was given a rope ladder and an escort through a different gangway - and I suspect a few hours in the security office or the ship's jail!

[AngAndBoys]

We saw a guy jump in at the Cozumel port from our balcony on the Magic. He was given a rope ladder and an escort through a different gangway - and I suspect a few hours in the security office or the ship's jail!

 

Ships jail, I'd guess. Don't know first-hand but on an Elation cruise 2 years ago, there was a bachelorette party onboard. I did see them at Senor Frogs and know they were very drunk. Anyway, rumor was, the bride jumped off the pier on the way back and was kept in brig for the rest of the trip. Again, knowledge is not first hand.

[chengkp75]

Maybe he had a hero complex? /QUOTE]

 

Please go back a bit the hero of the story was criticized in more than one post.

 

This is the only mention of the "hero" that has the least derogatory connotation that I see. Not really hostile, compared to the vitriol heaped on the OP.

 

Again, while I applaud the person who jumped in, I reserve my judgment on whether or not the title of "hero" is deserved. To me, a "hero" risks his own life to save another. Was the woman in dire distress? I sure can't say, as I wasn't there, and nothing in the posted photos shows this. Again, everyone takes the OP's statement that the woman couldn't swim as fact, rather than their opinion from a distance. Many people "don't swim well" and kind of thrash around, but are in no real danger of drowning. Did this person do a good thing? Sure. Did he save her life? Unproven.

[elainmir]

I'm going to defend the guy who jumped in...maybe you don't call him a hero but I'm going to. HE DID SOMETHING TO HELP while ship security and other bystanders STOOD THERE. Sometimes being there is all it takes. If I had accidentally fallen in and couldn't swim and he came to help me. He'd be my hero.

[jonbgd]

Just because someone is thrashing around in the water doesn't mean they are drowning but you never know

I do give props to the guy that jumped in and helped with the life ring.

with the length of the jet ski they are probably 16-20 ft

 

Ive seen lots of Marines thrashing around in my Amphib days:p

Some of the baddest guys, I ever served, with had a tough time treading water

[love my grandkids]

I'm going to defend the guy who jumped in...maybe you don't call him a hero but I'm going to. HE DID SOMETHING TO HELP while ship security and other bystanders STOOD THERE. Sometimes being there is all it takes. If I had accidentally fallen in and couldn't swim and he came to help me. He'd be my hero.

 

like

[Elaine5715]

I'm going to defend the guy who jumped in...maybe you don't call him a hero but I'm going to. HE DID SOMETHING TO HELP while ship security and other bystanders STOOD THERE. Sometimes being there is all it takes. If I had accidentally fallen in and couldn't swim and he came to help me. He'd be my hero.

 

Stood there? Besides assuming all those bystanders can swim?

[Lerin]

I'm going to defend the guy who jumped in...maybe you don't call him a hero but I'm going to. HE DID SOMETHING TO HELP while ship security and other bystanders STOOD THERE. Sometimes being there is all it takes. If I had accidentally fallen in and couldn't swim and he came to help me. He'd be my hero.

 

He'd be your hero...or you two would be participating in a joint funeral.

 

The number 1 rule taught in lifesaving is to never just jump in and grab a drowning person. No matter how good of a swimmer you are, a panicked person will push you under. One big gulp of water and now you have 2 drowning individuals.

The person who threw the life ring did the right thing. Bummer his aim stunk.

[ldlewis45]

If someone's thrashing, they aren't drowning yet. And yes, you NEVER just jump in to save someone in water. They are obviously panicking (cue the thrashing), so their first instinct is going to be to grab their "rescuer" and try to hold on to them, usually to the point that the "rescuer" gets pushed underwater. You aren't helping the situation if you get yourself drowned in the process. It's a harbor, they're going to have flotation devices available. And while it's easier said than done, if people would just try to calm down and stop thrashing in the water, they'd float.

[mitsugirly]

Glad to see she was able to be rescued and it sounds like the person that jumped in to help her knew what he was doing (getting the life ring first and then giving it to her).

 

(I like the part where they said he continued walking on to port with soaken clothes. Oh the stories he will be able to tell once he returns home from the cruise :))

[Mrs.C05]

Ships jail, I'd guess. Don't know first-hand but on an Elation cruise 2 years ago, there was a bachelorette party onboard. I did see them at Senor Frogs and know they were very drunk. Anyway, rumor was, the bride jumped off the pier on the way back and was kept in brig for the rest of the trip. Again, knowledge is not first hand.

 

I believe I remember seeing them at Senor Frogs. No matter how many times the staff members told them no jumping off allowed, they continued to jump off one by one, and then laugh once they got in the water. Being drunk and stupid they failed to realize the only way out of the water was up the ladder at Senor Frogs, and the police were waiting for them. They were escorted out. I guess she proceeded to be stupid, and luckily didn't drown from being so drunk once jumping off the pier.:eek:

[uncleg]

no win situation, damned if you do, damned if you don't. To many arm chair quarterbacks. Personally I have been there and done that, reacted strictly on instinct, and I am not great swimmer.