Orlando - A cruise ship, The Royal Caribbean Monarch of the Seas, that departed from Florida's Port Canaveral, on a cruise for the Bahamas, was forced to turn back after a 14-month old toddler was severely injured in a fall from the ship's balcony.
According to Click Orlando, the child, from India, fell on Friday from the 11th floor balcony of the cruise to the 10th floor and suffered serious injuries.
Click Orlando reports that the ship crew said the 14 month-old crawled away from his dad and fell from the 11th to the 10th floor soon after the Monarch of the Seas left Port Canaveral.
The ship's medical crew treated the child, but they realized that the child needed additional medical attention they could not provide. The crew was forced to take the decision to turn the cruise ship around and return to Port Canaveral.
AP reports the ship had a three-night itinerary in the Bahamas.
According to Cynthia Martinez, the Royal Caribbean's corporate communications director: "A 14-month-old guest from India traveling on Monarch of the Seas was injured in a fall. The guest was initially treated in our medical facility, but required additional and urgent medical attention that could only be provided in a hospital."
Immediately the ship docked, the child was transported by air to the Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Florida.
An official of the Royal Caribbean, said: "Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest's family. Our thoughts are with their family, and we will continue to do our very best to assist them."
AP reports that details of information about the child's injuries and current medical condition have not been released.
Travelers Today reports there have been several incidents of accidents aboard cruise ships in recent times. The website reports that in September, a 21-year-old woman from Barlett, Tennessee, fell off the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas about 47 miles east of Fort Lauderdale.
The coast guard searched the water but found no trace of her body. Crew members also conducted a search of the ship but she was not found. A passenger on the ship claimed she saw the woman fall off the ship into the water.
Examination of the ship's CCTV footage confirmed the passenger's story.
By John Thomas Didymus, Digital Journal
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