- Rescue experts called it "miraculous" that the woman who went overboard on a Royal Caribbean cruise was saved.
- The 42-year-old woman fell overboard from the 10th deck of the liner into the ocean on Sunday.
When a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship plummeted overboard from the 10th deck of the liner into the ocean below this weekend, the odds were stacked against her, water rescue experts said.
So it was a "miracle" that the 42-year-old woman managed to even survive the extremely high fall — comparable to the height of a 10-story apartment building — from the Mariner of the Seas vessel on Sunday.
She was even luckier to be rescued over the course of a tense, nearly hour-long ordeal, the experts told Insider on Thursday.
"For her to have survived the fall, let alone the immersion [in the water], let alone [rescuers] being able to find her and complete the rescue in 45 minutes — it's nothing short of miraculous," Gerald Dworkin, the founder of the Maine-based aquatics safety training company Lifesaving Resources, told Insider.
The woman — whose identity hasn't been revealed — went overboard at around 5 p.m. as the cruise ship was more than 30 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The ship made a turn and Royal Caribbean crew members quickly launched a high-stakes rescue operation in a small yellow lifeboat.
Crowds of shouting passengers on board the ship rallied together on their balconies and tried to guide the lifeboat to where she was, a witness said.
A US Coast Guards spokesperson told Insider that the woman, a US resident, was reported to be in "good health" after the fall.
Dworkin said a number of factors normally lead to death if you fall overboard, like trauma from the fall, the shock of cold water, and being out in the open ocean with no landmarks around.
The woman "overcame the odds and survived — it's just absolutely miraculous," said Dworkin, a firefighter who has trained first responders in water rescue and ice rescue situations nationally for nearly four decades through his firm.
Most people who go overboard on cruise ships usually aren't so lucky.
According to a report from the Cruise Lines International Association, there were 212 overboard incidents from 2009 to 2019, and only 48 — or 28.2% — of those who fell overboard were successfully rescued.
Retired US Coast Guard commander Dave Smith applauded the cruise ship's crew for being "really on the ball" to save the woman.
"If you've got trained crew on the vessel — like evidently these people are really top drawer — that's going to help," said Smith, who founded the Michigan-based Smith Aquatic Safety Service in 1981.
Had the woman fallen off the ship in the nighttime while no one was around, "forget it," Smith said.
"The ship's crew deserves a big, big, well-done because that was remarkable," said Smith. "Usually what happens, both commercially and recreationally, is when somebody goes over the side, nobody knows about it. And that's the big problem."
He called the woman one "lucky lady."
Dworkin echoed those remarks, saying, "The fact that she went overboard, and they're able to quickly establish the last seen point, they're able to turn the boat and then launch the rescue boat — absolutely miraculous and absolutely lucky that she's survived."
Raimund Gschaider, Royal Caribbean International's vice president for hotel operations, told Insider that the company's "teams on board every ship are truly extraordinary."
"There's a relationship built with our guests that comes from a place of friendliness, commitment and passion," Gschaider said. "In fact, many become lasting friendships. For example, we receive 15-20 wedding invites a week from our guests who want to make us a part of that special day."