An 82-year-old woman was was "picked up" from Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas by part of the US Coast Guard's counter narcotics force on Monday evening.
Actually, the woman suffered a broken leg while on her cruise, and about 4:19pm this afternoon, the doctor aboard Freedom of the Seas called the Coast Guard to assist with a medical evacuation. The ship was 132 miles east of Great Inagua, Bahamas at the time. The Coast Guard dispatched a HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter deployed to Great Inagua in support of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos. OPBAT's normal mission is patrolling for narcotics smugglers.
The helicopter took the woman from the ship to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. There she was transferred to a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet crew which was also supporting OPBAT. They in turn flew the woman to South Florida where she was taken to a local hospital.
"While primarily focused on counter narcotics operations while deployed for OPBAT," said Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Ippolito Hilton, "our people and our aircraft are ready to help whenever and wherever we are needed."
