'It was scary': Air Force evacuates 12-year-old boy in critical condition from cruise

A 12-year-old boy in critical condition was medically evacuated from a Carnival cruise ship. Due to the ship being more than 350 miles offshore, the Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing had to perform the air evacuation on Saturday, according to a press release by the combat search and rescue wing.

Aiden Bridges and his family were onboard the Carnival Venezia cruise ship , which was sailing along the East Coast to return to New York from the Caribbean, when he “fell ill,” according to a GoFundMe created by Aiden’s mom, Angela Bridges.

The pre-teen visited the ship's medical team, where he got an X-ray and learned he had a rupture in his bowel. The onboard doctors told the family Aiden needed to be medically evacuated immediately to a hospital in North Carolina for urgent surgery.

Angela Bridges did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

At the time, the ship was on a sea day and scheduled to arrive back in New York on Monday.

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“Carnival Venezia's team worked with United States Coast Guard and Air Force officials to adjust its course Saturday so a medical helicopter could rendezvous with the ship when a guest on board needed treatment ashore,” Janna Rowell, a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, told USA TODAY in an email statement.

Within hours of the call, the 920th Rescue Wing prepared and launched a rescue force from Florida comprising two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, two HC-130J Combat King II aircraft and two teams of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen to fly to the ship’s position, the press release said. Flight doctors were used to identify the treatment station to which Aiden was transported.

“Everyone in the wing mobilized with exceptional speed. By uniting our efforts, we saved crucial time, delivering life-saving assistance six hours ahead of other response teams,” said Capt. Dylan Gann, 301st Rescue Squadron pilot, in the release.

Due to the ship’s remote location, the helicopters had to do air-to-air refueling. Pararescuements were hoisted down to the ship’s deck, and Aiden and his mother were brought up to the helicopter.

Mira Simanovsky, who was also onboard the cruise, told USA TODAY the passengers were alerted of a medical evacuation via an intercom announcement. Simanovsky was on her balcony when she saw the two helicopters and army planes circling the ship. She later moved to the deck to watch the rescue mission with other passengers.

“It was scary. Everybody was crying,” she said. An avid cruiser with 35 sailings under her belt said it was the first time she’d ever “seen anything like that.”

The crowd gathered on the deck were cheering and clapping when the mother and her son were airlifted.

By the time the aircraft returned to the station, the rescue mission had taken more than eight hours with over 1,000 miles flown.

Carnival said the ship then resumed its route to New York and arrived in New York Monday morning as normad.

“Thank you so much to everyone who has expressed well wishes and prayers and good thoughts for our sweet baby and the rest of our family,” Bridges wrote on the GoFundMe fundraiser to help the family with Aiden’s insurance deductible and out-of-pocket medical costs. “I can’t express to everyone how in awe I am at the outpouring of kindness and support.”

On Tuesday, Bridges posted an update on Aiden, saying he “has a long road of recovery ahead of him.”

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'It was scary': Air Force evacuates 12-year-old boy in critical condition from cruise