A cruise passenger who fell overboard in the Gulf of Mexico was found alive on Thanksgiving Day after more than 15 hours in the water, the United States Coast Guard confirmed.
The man, 28, went missing on Wednesday after spending time at a bar on the Carnival Valor cruise ship, which was en route to Cozumel, Mexico. He disappeared after telling his sister he was going to the bathroom, according to reports.
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She didn’t report that he was missing until Thursday, which prompted the cruise to retrace its sailing path toward New Orleans, Carnival spokesman Matt Lupoli said.
The search mission was completed by land and sea over a 200-mile area, according to officials.
A video of the rescue was shared on the Coast Guard Heartland Twitter page.
Footage from the rescue of the cruise ship passenger last night. Can also be downloaded here: https://t.co/xk0pBnVr1E pic.twitter.com/GK1IXCKlgx
— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) November 25, 2022
Coast Guard Lt. Seth Gross said it was the “absolutely longest” that he’d heard of someone surviving in the water.
“Just one of those Thanksgiving miracles,” Gross said, adding that it “shows the will to live is something that you need to account for in every search-and-rescue case.”
It is unclear how the man, who has not been identified, fell overboard.
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Rescuers told a local news outlet that they found him in 70-degree water about 20 miles south of the Louisiana border after a tip from someone on a cargo ship who saw him.
He was in stable condition as of Friday and is being evaluated at a New Orleans hospital, officials said.
