PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — A cruise ship that left Port Canaveral Friday afternoon returned to the port after a young child was injured in a fall, officials said.
The Royal Caribbean ship Monarch of the Seas left Port Canaveral around 4:30 p.m. and was headed for the Bahamas.
Officials told WFTV that a 1-year-old child crawled through an 11th floor railing and fell to a balcony one floor below.
The ship turned around and headed back to port so the child could be taken to a hospital. Around 7:30 p.m. the child was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.
There is no word on the child's current condition.
Saturday morning Royal Caribbean issued a statement regarding the incident:
"On Friday, December 21, 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. Therefore, the ship turned around and returned to Port Canaveral, Florida, where we could debark the guest and their family so that the guest could receive urgent medical care.
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."
WFTV
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