{"id":661,"date":"2025-07-17T15:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:10:10","slug":"carnival-cruise-takes-terrifying-turn-hours-into-dream-trip-happened-so-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661\/","title":{"rendered":"Carnival cruise takes terrifying turn hours into dream trip: ‘Happened so fast’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cruise ship passenger\u2019s<\/a> relaxing holiday to Australia\u2019s iconic Whitsunday Islands took a terrifying and almost fatal turn late last month. Joshua Gul was buzzing with excitement when he boarded the Carnival<\/a> Encounter in Brisbane on June 24 alongside 15 loved ones.<\/p>\n

Eager to celebrate his dad\u2019s 80th birthday, the Queenslander<\/a> and his family members spent the first day settling in and enjoying the sea voyage. However, just hours later their elation turned to dread.<\/p>\n

Around 6am the next morning, as the ship was anchored offshore at Airlie Beach, Joshua awoke to a radiating pain<\/a> in his left arm and hand, according to Mackay Hospital and Health Service.<\/p>\n

Worried about the intensity of his pain, the 55-year-old\u2019s wife Nancy alerted relatives staying in the cabin next door. \u201cThankfully, they quickly rang the onboard medical team who arrived at our cabin within five minutes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the doctor and nurses arrived, he was already unconscious and had gone into cardiac arrest \u2014 they had to start resuscitation immediately; it all happened so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wife and daughter watch in horror as cruise medics perform CPR<\/p>\n

Nancy and the couple\u2019s 16-year-old daughter watched on in horror as the medical team performed CPR on Joshua for 30 minutes. He was then rushed ashore on a shuttle boat and taken to Proserpine Hospital before being medically evacuated by helicopter to Mackay Base Hospital.<\/p>\n

Once there, the 55-year-old was admitted into intensive care and placed in an induced coma, prompting his concerned relatives to leave the cruise and travel to his bedside.<\/p>\n

After five days on a ventilator, the dad finally opened his eyes. Two days later he underwent an angiogram, which revealed the cardiac episode had been caused by a potential blockage and narrowing of blood vessels in his heart, the Mackay Hospital and Health Service reports.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Joshua was medically evacuated by helicopter to Mackay Base Hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma. Source: Google Maps<\/p>\n

Cruise ship’s medical team saved passenger’s life, doctor says<\/p>\n

Mackay Base Hospital ICU Director Stephen Luke said the onboard medical team\u2019s fast response was crucial in Joshua\u2019s recovery. \u201cCPR and defibrillation on the cruise ship truly saved his life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the chain of survival at work, with the added challenges of retrieval off the cruise ship and distance in North Queensland. We were all really excited to see Josh wake up without serious damage to his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy said it is an \u201cabsolute miracle\u201d her husband of 24 years didn\u2019t suffer any cognitive impairment. \u201cJoshua was very lucky in what was an incredibly unlucky situation for us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this cardiac episode had happened at home and not on the cruise ship in the Whitsundays, Joshua wouldn\u2019t have had such rapid access to care like he did, and he probably wouldn\u2019t have made it.\u201d The couple live in Buderim, in the Sunshine Coast region.<\/p>\n

Despite his incredibly close call, Joshua has vowed to have another crack at a cruising holiday. \u201cI was having a great time on the ship\u2026 but I was on a shuttle boat, had my first ride in a helicopter, as well as an ambulance trip \u2014 and I missed all of it as I was unconscious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But his mum is less than keen to join, given this is the third voyage she\u2019s been forced to cancel due to illness or injury.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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