Edinburgh, Scotland:
A seriously ill 73-year-old British cruise passenger was accidentally dropped into the bitterly cold Norwegian Sea last month by rescue workers taking her off the ship to a hospital, police said today.
Janet Richardson spent four minutes treading water after Norwegian coast guard officers let her stretcher slip into water that was just a few degrees above freezing, rescue officials and her husband George told The Associated Press.
She spent a week in intensive care and remains hospitalised in England, he said.
"The stretcher went into the water and she fell into the water too as she was not strapped in. She had a life jacket on and I could see her swimming, treading water and trying to stay afloat," he said.
Norwegian police said they have launched an investigation into the March 29 accident and Norwegian Sea Rescue spokesman Ernst Larsen said the coast guard was also conducting a probe.
Janet Richardson began suffering from internal bleeding during the homeward leg of a two-week Scandinavian cruise on the Ocean Countess, organizer Cruise and Maritime Voyages said.
"Janet had always wanted to go on a cruise to the fjords and to see the northern lights," said her husband, a 78-year-old retired farmer.
She was being transported from the cruise ship to a rescue vessel when she slipped, and had to stay in the water while rescuers steered it away to avoid crushing her between the ships, Larsen said. Temperatures in the Norwegian Sea are usually between 32 and 39 degrees (0 to 4 celsius) in late
March, he said.
"The boats were not tied together. They were just side-by-side on the water when the stern of the rescue boat moved away. I don't know why this is the case," George Richardson said.
Janet Richardson was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on and spent a week in intensive care in Norway before she was transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, England, where she is still being treated. The hospital declined to describe her condition.