A Coast Guard helicopter crew have hoisted a possible stroke victim from a Viking Cruises ship off the Mexican coast and flew the woman to a San Diego hospital on Wednesday, January 1, officials announced.
The 68-year-old passenger was reported in stable condition when reaching the hospital, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
The crew of Viking Sun contacted the operations center of the Coast Guard in San Diego at about 8:20 am, asking for assistance with a traveler displaying stroke symptoms, the release revealed.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter in San Diego and a C-17 Spartan transport plane from Sacramento CA headed for the vessel located around 225 miles south of the port of San Diego. The helicopter crew brought a Special Tactics and Rescue paramedic from San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The paramedic was lowered by the Jayhawk crew onto Viking Sun to assess the passenger and load her into a rescue basket. The lady was hoisted on the helicopter, followed by the medic. The crew flew to Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla just after 12:40 pm.
At the time of the accident, the ship was at the end of a 26-day, one-way cruise from Valparaiso which is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday, January 4.
For other Viking Sun accidents and incidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.