A 4-year-old boy was pulled from a pool on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship and airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando on Saturday, authorities said. Brevard County and Disney rescue workers responded to the ship about 3:30 p.m. for a potential drowning at the family pool, one of three pools onboard, officials said. The family had just boarded for a seven-day cruise to the Western Caribbean. "We're focused on assisting the family," Disney spokeswoman Rena Langley said. "Clearly, our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."Port Canaveral police found the boy "in distress" at the pool, spokeswoman Rosalind Harvey said. He was taken by ambulance to Cape Canaveral Hospital and later flown by medical helicopter to Orlando, she said. He had a pulse at the time, but his condition was unknown late Saturday. Witnesses said on online Disney message boards that the child's parents weren't in the pool when the accident happened but ran over while emergency rescuers worked on him. "They both nearly collapsed," one witness wrote.
The parents and two other children left the ship in their bathing suits as they boy was being removed, witnesses said. There are no lifeguards on the ship, and signs at the pool indicate this, Langley said. The cruise left port 45 minutes late at 5:45 p.m.
