From the Daily Mail: Passengers heard the bloodcurdling scream of a panicked mother – then saw a man hurl himself 49 feet off the Disney Dream cruise ship into the ocean.
Seconds earlier, his five-year-old daughter had fallen overboard in what could have been a tragic accident.
The father’s daring leap made headlines around the world, hailed as an act of pure heroism.
But the Daily Mail can reveal he only made the desperate dive after his wife – the child’s mother – encouraged their daughter to climb in the porthole.
A damning police report states that the mother had told her little girl to pose for a photo in front of a porthole on June 29.
Police said the mother “assumed the porthole had a window or plexiglass, and she thought that [her daughter] would be caught by the glass.”
The family was reportedly walking along the deck when they came to a porthole and the mother saw it as a great spot for a photo. She ‘offered for her daughter to take a picture in the porthole’. The child claimed on top of the railing and sat in the porthole opening while her mother took pictures.
Suddenly, the girl lost her balance and fell backwards… and down into the ocean.
The father, who was walking a few feet ahead, didn’t see his daughter fall, and first ran to get help, but after about 45 seconds, he dived into the sea after his daughter himself. Miraculously, he was able to reach her and hold her above water for about 20 minutes until a rescue boat was lowered down to retrieve them both from the water.
Rumors swirled on social media, as many people falsely accused the father of putting his daughter up on the railing. Police debunked that claim, but now the full story has emerged on what really happened.
READ MORE from the Daily Mail.
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