Ronald Reagan Saves 14-Year Old
No, not the Gipper himself, of course, rather the ship named after him. The USS Ronald Reagan airlifted a 14-year old girl off the deck of a cruise ship by helicopter and flew her back to the ship where she underwent an emergency appendectomy in the ship's sick bay.
Laura Montero, 14, fell ill aboard the Dawn Princess cruise ship off the coast of Baja California. The Bahamian-registered ship sent out a distress call Friday that was answered by the USS Ronald Reagan, which was on training maneuvers about 500 miles away.
Montero, a fair-haired girl with bright blue eyes, appeared to be doing well as she gave a brief interview with reporters at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
"I'd like to thank the captain of the Dawn Princess, the surgeon and the crew and everyone on the USS Ronald Reagan," she said quietly, then flashed a shy grin. She said she was usually "a tiny bit" scared of heights but hadn't been nervous when she was hoisted on a flat stretcher into the helicopter that came to fetch her.
"I was in pain," she said.
The Reagan, a nuclear carrier, was the closest ship with a hospital facility, according to a news release from the Navy. It steamed overnight toward the cruise ship, which was about 250 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas when the call went out.
A helicopter took off from the Reagan around 5 a.m. Saturday to close the final 175-mile gap between the ships. The crew arrived after a 45-minute flight and lowered a medic onto the cruise ship deck in a basket because there wasn't space to land, said Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Leland, the pilot.
Montero, who was on an antibiotic drip, was loaded into a litter basket, lifted into the helicopter and flown back to the Reagan for an appendectomy. Her mother stayed aboard the cruise ship.
The Navy press release about the incident quotes Captain Terry B. Craft, the commanding officer of the Reagan:
"It's a great example of the type of things we are called upon to do, and it's neat we were able to execute it as well as we did," said Capt. Terry B. Kraft, Ronald Reagan's commanding officer.
"I was most impressed with the teamwork on board the ship. Everybody rallied together," added Kraft. "It was a great coordinated effort between our helicopter squadron, HS-4, our medical folks and the Sailors here on the ship that enabled us to head down there very quickly. I'm also very proud of our ship's surgeon, who completed a successful operation."
Kudos to the entire crew of the USS Ronald Reagan for a job well done. The Gipper would be very proud.
By NortonPete, Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 8:24 pm
Some people might say “how much did that cost”? But this was an excellent training exercise. It wasn’t staged with a great deal of planning and it was real, which is hard and costly to synthesize.
By Gaius, Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 8:30 pm
They were out training anyway, so that does tend to negate the criticism. There are also rules pertaining to rendering assistance on the sea.
By NortonPete, Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 8:51 pm
Our local Volunteer Fire department turned out in force to save 8 deer who broke through th ice on a local lake. It was in the middle of the 6 day shotgun season, 6 am , and all the firefighters were hunters. They saved the deer by breaking the ice and guiding them to shore. It could also have been 8 human ice skaters.
Good training all around.
By Glenn M. Cassel, AMH1(AW), USN, RET, Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 10:10 pm
The training and dedication to DUTY pays off!
Hand Salute! to USS Ronald Reagan and the embarked Air Wing. Make this little girl a honorary crewmember. To HS-4, keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!
You have done this Old Retired Petty Officer Proud!!!!!!!!!!
I haven’t seen anything on this in the MSM at all. Go figure, Shipmates!
By Anthony (Los Angeles), Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 11:32 pm
Good job by the crew of the Reagan! Whether it’s providing rescue and relief to thousands in the wake of a tsunami in Indonesia, fighting pirates off the coast of Africa, or airlifting a sick girl to help, the USN is ready.
Yet, to the Left, we’re nothing but imperialist warmongers. Eh, to heck with them. The actions speak for themselves.
By Maggie, Tuesday, 18 December , 2007 @ 11:41 pm
What a great story to tell her frineds and family for a long time to come.
~SALUTE~ to the crew and docs of the USS Ronald Reagan!
And a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to them too!