Anonymous
10-02-2005, 11:19 PM
Toledo Man Survives Fall From Carnival Cruise Ship
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - An Ohio man who fell off a cruise ship in the predawn darkness Tuesday swam more than 4 miles to reach shore, where he was found exhausted and dehydrated but otherwise in good condition.
John Monnett, 23, of Toledo, was spotted on the rocky shoreline of the San Juan suburb of Toa Baja nearly 10 hours after he disappeared from the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Celebration.
He was rescued by civil defense workers and taken to Bayamon Regional Hospital, where he was being treated for dehydration, a police spokesman said.
Monnett, who was the University of Toledo's mascot, Rocky the Rocket, at football and basketball games during the 1995-96 season, told his rescuers that he treaded water until he could see the shore at dawn, then began swimming toward it. He said he was helped by the current.
Witnesses reported that he had been drinking with friends at a San Juan nightclub Monday night and reboarded the ship before it left for St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher in Miami.
Monnett and an acquaintance climbed over a safety railing and entered an area restricted only to crew members, Gallagher said, quoting statements provided by the witnesses.
Monnett entered the restricted area to urinate, he said. He was leaning on wire cables when he fell several stories into the ocean. The ship was about 2 1/2 miles out of San Juan at the time.
U.S. Coast Guard boats and helicopters searched a 10-square-mile area for the man, and the San Juan harbor entrance was briefly closed.
The Celebration had left its home port of Miami on Saturday and arrived in San Juan on Monday. After a delay of several hours Tuesday, it continued on to St. Thomas.
Monnett's mother, Susan Ford, and stepfather live in Centerville, Ohio, as does his father, John, the Dayton Daily News reported Wednesday.
Monnett's former wrestling coach at Oakwood High School in suburban Dayton said Monnett is an intense person who enjoys pushing things to the limit.
"Basically, you'd push him to the brink, and he'd keep going," Chip Seidl told the Daily News. "That's probably what kept him alive."
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - An Ohio man who fell off a cruise ship in the predawn darkness Tuesday swam more than 4 miles to reach shore, where he was found exhausted and dehydrated but otherwise in good condition.
John Monnett, 23, of Toledo, was spotted on the rocky shoreline of the San Juan suburb of Toa Baja nearly 10 hours after he disappeared from the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Celebration.
He was rescued by civil defense workers and taken to Bayamon Regional Hospital, where he was being treated for dehydration, a police spokesman said.
Monnett, who was the University of Toledo's mascot, Rocky the Rocket, at football and basketball games during the 1995-96 season, told his rescuers that he treaded water until he could see the shore at dawn, then began swimming toward it. He said he was helped by the current.
Witnesses reported that he had been drinking with friends at a San Juan nightclub Monday night and reboarded the ship before it left for St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said Carnival spokesman Tim Gallagher in Miami.
Monnett and an acquaintance climbed over a safety railing and entered an area restricted only to crew members, Gallagher said, quoting statements provided by the witnesses.
Monnett entered the restricted area to urinate, he said. He was leaning on wire cables when he fell several stories into the ocean. The ship was about 2 1/2 miles out of San Juan at the time.
U.S. Coast Guard boats and helicopters searched a 10-square-mile area for the man, and the San Juan harbor entrance was briefly closed.
The Celebration had left its home port of Miami on Saturday and arrived in San Juan on Monday. After a delay of several hours Tuesday, it continued on to St. Thomas.
Monnett's mother, Susan Ford, and stepfather live in Centerville, Ohio, as does his father, John, the Dayton Daily News reported Wednesday.
Monnett's former wrestling coach at Oakwood High School in suburban Dayton said Monnett is an intense person who enjoys pushing things to the limit.
"Basically, you'd push him to the brink, and he'd keep going," Chip Seidl told the Daily News. "That's probably what kept him alive."