Navy warship reaches sailboat with sick toddler on board

[flowers]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/06/navy-ship-sent-to-pick-up-sick-toddler-on-sailboat/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fnational+%28Internal+-+US+Latest+-+Text%29

SAN DIEGO –  A U.S. Navy warship reached a crippled sailboat hundreds of miles off the Mexican coast and was preparing Sunday to complete the rescue of a sick 1-year-old girl.

The transfer of the child from the 36-foot boat to the ship was expected to start around dawn, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena said Sunday.

"Sometime this morning as soon as they get some light they are going to take the child off the boat and bring  her aboard the naval vessel," Bena told The Associated Press.

A small boat will be used to carry out the operation and it will be safer during daylight, especially since the child's condition has stabilized, the spokesman said.

The girl's family -- parents and a 3-year-old sister -- were about 900 miles off Mexico on a cruise around the world when they sent a satellite ping for help to the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday about her illness.

A family member said the Rebel Heart is owned by a San Diego couple, Charlotte and Eric Kaufman, whose daughter, Lyra, had developed a fever and a rash covering most of her body and who wasn't responding to medications.

The California Air National Guard dispatched four rescuers, who parachuted into the water and reached the disabled vessel. The team was able to stabilize the girl and pointed the sailboat, which does not have steering or communication abilities, toward Mexico, the 129th Rescue Wing said in a statement.

The rescuers stayed aboard the Rebel Heart and are keeping watch on the ill child until the Navy frigate transfers them to shore. The girl still requires medical treatment, and the rescuers planned to stay with her until she reaches a hospital, the statement said.

USS Vandegrift churned through the Pacific at nearly 30 mph to reach the stricken boat, officials said. Bena said he wasn't sure if it arrived late Saturday or early Sunday.

They send a warship for a 1 year old but for 4 people in Benghazi...................

[happyg]

I'm glad they saved the baby, but am more angered that four people died because of neglect.

[Chieftain]

I'm glad they saved the baby, but am more angered that four people died because of neglect.

I wonder why this required the services of both the Air National Guard and the US Navy.  Where was the Coast Guard in all of this??  900 miles is not beyond the range of a Coast Guard Cutter or any of its long-range search and rescue aircraft.

[Dexter]

I wonder why this required the services of both the Air National Guard and the US Navy.  Where was the Coast Guard in all of this??  900 miles is not beyond the range of a Coast Guard Cutter or any of its long-range search and rescue aircraft.

It's possible that the Navy ship just happened to be in the area. It would make sense if they were just a lot closer, and it was way more convenient to not send out the coast guard.

[Chieftain]

It's possible that the Navy ship just happened to be in the area. It would make sense if they were just a lot closer, and it was way more convenient to not send out the coast guard.

Yes, except that Navy ship got underway from San Diego to respond to this.

I have never heard of it being inconvenient for the Coast Guard to respond to an emergency at sea, especially so close to a major port like San Diego.

 

[Dexter]

Yes, except that Navy ship got underway from San Diego to respond to this.

I have never heard of it being inconvenient for the Coast Guard to respond to an emergency at sea, especially so close to a major port like San Diego.

 

Any hypotheses on why the Coast Guard was not involved?

[mountaineer]

They send a warship for a 1 year old but for 4 people in Benghazi ...

Puzzling - and troubling - indeed.

[flowers]

I wonder why this required the services of both the Air National Guard and the US Navy.  Where was the Coast Guard in all of this??  900 miles is not beyond the range of a Coast Guard Cutter or any of its long-range search and rescue aircraft.

My question as well. Why not the Coast Guard? Maybe the family is a obama mega donor or has a family member who is?