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Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship 100 miles off North Carolina shore

Posted at 7:35 AM, Jun 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-15 07:35:56-04

HATTERAS, N.C. – The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 55-year-old Canadian man from a cruise ship 100 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras Friday morning.

According to the Coast Guard, watchstanders at the Portsmouth, Virginia command center received a phone call from personnel aboard the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas. A passenger on the ship had reportedly been suffering from abdominal pain.

Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City launched MH-60 Jayhawk and HC-130 Hercules aircrews in response.

Once on-scene, the Jayhawk aircrew brought both the patient and his wife aboard the helicopter and took them to Carteret Health Care Medical Center in Morehead City.

“Conducting a medevac from a cruise ship can be difficult sometimes, especially in bad weather,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Alex Morris, the aviation maintenance technician who worked the hoisting mechanism during the medevac. “Thanks to the constant training we conduct, we’ve remained capable and ready to respond to the calls of people in distress at sea.”