Truth about dad who jumped off Disney cruise to save daughter as police shut down viral rumor
The five-year-old fell from the fourth deck of the $900 million Disney Dream about 11.30am on Sunday as it was sailing to Fort Lauderdale from the Bahamas.
Hundreds of passengers watched as the pair were dramatically rescued by the ship's crew after the brave dad kept his daughter afloat for 20 minutes.
But the father switched from hero to villain online amid claims he lifted his daughter on top of a 42.5-inch (3.5ft) railing for a photo, and she fell backwards off the ship.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating what happened, finally refuted the rumor on Wednesday afternoon.
Sheriff Gregory Tony said the girl was sitting on the railing and fell backwards through a porthole, but that her father didn't put her there.
'After the girl's mother alerted her husband, who didn't see the incident, he jumped into the ocean to save his daughter,' he said.
'BSO detectives said after the 37-year-old father found his daughter, he treaded water until they were rescued by a tender that was launched from the ship.'
Sheriff Tony said the ship's security video corroborated statements from the family and Disney cruise staff about what happened.
The father was hurt as he fought to save his daughter and was hospitalized after the ship returned to port, but police declined to specify the injury.
'The crew's "man overboard" training and readiness paid off because they executed a successful ocean rescue,' Sheriff Tony said.
'BSO investigators said the total time from the child's accidental fall to the rescue was about 20 minutes. Once rescued, the father and daughter were checked out by the ship's medical staff.'
Sheriff Tony said the family did not live in Florida.
He explained that detectives were still gathering details, but his office released what they knew so far 'in response to misinformation'.
'This family is so blessed. It's great to be able to respond to good news rather than what could have been a tragic outcome,' he said.
The father was initially hailed as a hero for saving his daughter from almost certain death on her own in the ocean, without regard for his own life.
But the tide turned when rumors that he caused her to fall began to spread, and he was pilloried online by thousands of strangers who repeated the wild accusations as if they were fact.
Some even called for him to be thrown in jail, charged with child endangerment, have his daughter taken away from him, and his wife divorce him.
This was despite no one who saw the girl fall publicly saying what happened, and no evidence he did anything wrong.
Even before police exonerated him, some passengers shared alternate explanations they heard from far more credible sources.
Monica Shannon, who was on holiday with her husband and young child, said a crew member told her a different story.
'She said the parents were playing shuffleboard and the girl was climbing on the railings... and as she went to climb up again she flew off,' she told the Daily Mail.
Shannon said the crew told her the area was often very windy, and a sudden gust could have caused the child to topple over the edge.
Deck four includes a jogging track and is lined with railings that extend 42.5 inches (3.5ft) from the floor with plexiglass in front of them.
Indoor sections have open portholes that could easily be climbed out of but not fallen through.
Shannon, from South Florida, said she was in her room on a lower deck directly below the shuffleboard area and 'saw something go by really fast'.
'I didn't think anything of it, I definitely didn't think it was a person or a body that just fell off the ship,' she said.
Minutes later her husband told her what happened and she rushed on to the deck.
Another anonymous passenger who claimed to be near the family when the girl fell also insisted the railing photo story wasn't true.
'I was there. This is not what happened. I heard the screaming and went to help. The little girl was not sitting on the railing,' they wrote on Facebook.
'I was there with them. We were first to help when we heard the initial fall/scream.'
Several passengers said the girl's mother was hysterical after watching her daughter and husband go over the side.
'The mom was yelling "she's five and can't swim",' passenger Shannon Lindholm said.
Monica Shannon added: 'The crew said the mom was brought inside away from the edge and that she was hysterical the entire time.'
Within seconds of the girl falling, the ship's automatic man overboard alarm and the emergency code 'Mr MOB' blared over the intercom.
'It was my first cruise ever and it was pretty traumatizing trying to wrap my head around it,' passenger Nikki Samsill Jackson told the Daily Mail.
'When it first happened, everyone was saying that somebody jumped in and at that point we didn't know he jumped in to save his child, everyone was thinking suicide or too much alcohol.'
Within minutes the crew readied a yellow motorized rescue boat and went after the stricken pair as hundreds of passengers rushed to the railings.
Flotation rings were thrown into the water, but they were either too far away, or the father couldn't grab them without risking letting go of his daughter.
Passengers described the massive 130,000 gross tonnage ship, which travels at 25mph, turning around as the rescue boat raced to find them before they drowned.
'When they were rescued, dad had his arms around his child and he was treading water,' Jackson said.
Another passenger, Gar Frantz described the moment rescuers hauled them on to the boat.
'Everybody was cheering because you could see them lift them into the boat and they had the baby in their arms,' he said.
The dad, clearly exhausted and distraught, gave the crowd a thumbs up as the boat approached the ship, then wiped his face with his hand.
His daughter was sitting on the ship's doctor's knee as she was checked out, appearing healthy despite her ordeal.
The physician has been praised online for stroking the girl's hair to keep her calm.
'When they were safely recovered, the captain made an announcement to say what happened,' one passenger wrote online.
'His voice was wavering and cracking, you could tell this shook him to the core.'
Disney Cruise Line later praised its crew for their actions.
'The crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water. We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.
'We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.'
The Disney Dream was built in 2010 and last refurbished in 2024, according to Cruise Mapper.
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