UK woman dropped into sea in botched cruise rescue

[Liberal_in_LA]

UK woman dropped into sea in botched cruise rescue

A seriously ill 73-year-old British woman was accidentally dropped into the bitterly cold Norwegian Sea as rescue workers took her off a cruise ship, police said Thursday. The ordeal has left her hospitalized for more than three weeks.

Janet Richardson spent four minutes treading water March 29 after Norwegian coast guard officers let her stretcher slip into the sea as they were evacuating her from a Scandinavian cruise ship, rescue officials and her husband George told The Associated Press.

The sea was just a few degrees above freezing at the time.

Richardson spent a week in intensive care and remains hospitalized in England, her husband said.

"The stretcher went into the water and she fell into the water too as she was not strapped in," he said. "She had a life jacket on and I could see her swimming, treading water and trying to stay afloat."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/04/21/international/i035029D87.DTL#ixzz1KBbSNx2m

[Iggo]

1. She SURVIVED???

Fucking A!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. yep. 73 year old ill woman treaded ice cold water for 8 minutes.

[angstlessk]

3. UPDATE: Woman who was dropped into sea dies

http://www.anhourago.co.uk/show.aspx?l=8405278&d=501

[REP]

4. Sloppy reporting. Penrith is in Wales, not England

She was Welsh, not British.

[Vox Populi]

5. huh?

If you're Welsh you ARE British.

[Vox Populi]

6. And she wasn't welsh

The article refers to Penrith, Cumbria, so it's in England not Wales. So she's English, British and a UK citizen.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. And there isn't a Penrith in Wales

:)