Dramatic footage released by the US Coast Guard shows a rescue team landing on a cruise ship to save a sick child.
Around 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, watchmen at Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay, California, received word that an 8-year-old male passenger on the Royal Princess cruise ship had been diagnosed with appendicitis and needed to be transported to a nearby hospital. About an hour later, the men departed Humboldt Bay in an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and headed to the ship, which is about 20 miles off the coast of Eureka, California.
In heartbreaking footage, a rescue swimmer is seen being hit by waves as the waves surge up around him as he descends from a helicopter onto the deck of a ship. Once the rescuer reaches the deck, the crew sends up a basket to carry the sick boy. Moments later, the young man is brought into the helicopter in the basket, followed shortly by his mother.
The young man was later taken to Saint Joseph Hospital in Eureka and admitted to the emergency medical room around 9:40 a.m. The identity of the young patient and his family members have not been released to the public.
Although appendicitis is rare in those under the age of 10, it mostly affects teenagers and people in their 20s, and is the most common type of emergency surgery performed in children. If left untreated, appendicitis can lead to the appendix bursting or rupturing, which can be fatal. In most cases, children recover completely without long-term side effects.