PORTSMOUTH, Va. – A 76-year-old man was medevaced by the Coast Guard around 10 a.m. Saturday after suffering a stroke on a cruise ship near the Chesapeake Bay entrance.
According to Coast Guard officials, the man was on the Norwegian Breakaway when he suffered the stroke, and possible internal bleeding, aboard the ship about 75-miles southeast of the Chesapeake Bay.
The captain of the ship reached the Coast Guard at the Fifth District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, via a satellite phone.
The Coast Guard sent an aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in an MH-60 Jayhawk to assist the man on the ship, bringing back him and a nurse to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital
“Letting the Coast Guard know of these situations as soon as possible is vital,” said Lt. j.g. Christopher Saylor, Operations Watchstander at the command center. “In this case, the fast notification helped facilitate a diligent response and got the victim the proper care in a timely manner.”
The condition of the man is not known at this time.
