By Editor Nic White
The mystery woman who cradled a little girl rescued from the ocean after falling off a Disney cruise ship has been revealed.
The woman was Alyssa Charles, the ship’s South African lead physician who comforted the traumatized girl as she checked her for injuries.
The youngster fell from the fourth deck of the $900million Disney Dream about 11am on Sunday as it was sailing to Fort Lauderdale from the Bahamas.
Her father heroically dived around 50ft into the waves seconds later to save her, and kept his daughter afloat for 20 minutes until help arrived.
Hundreds of passengers watched as the pair were dramatically rescued by the ship’s crew and were returned to the ship on an emergency craft.
Instead of being with her exhausted father, the girl was seen sitting in Charles’s lap in footage shot by passengers.
Charles was praised online for the heartwarming way she looked after the youngster moments after she was miraculously plucked from the waves.
‘She was holding her like her own!’ one wrote.
‘The rescuer rubbing her head,’ another added, along with a crying emoji, after watching the video.
Charles’s younger sister Jasmine, 28, beamed as she watched video of her sister in the rescue boat that was posted online.
‘My sister is the head doctor that was in the boat! I am so emotional watching this and I am such a proud little sister!’ she said.
Jasmine later shared a new bulletin to her Instagram, captioned: ‘That’s my sister! Doctor on the rescue boat!’
Charles has worked for Disney Cruise Line since last August after a decade-long medical career in her native South Africa.
A pediatric and emergency care specialist, she was the perfect doctor to have on hand after the girl was rescued on Sunday.
‘I love puppies and food and pediatrics,’ her social media profiles read, also noting that she ‘loves a good dad joke’.
Charles earned a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from Stellenbosch University on South Africa’s Western Cape in 2015 and worked at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Durban for the next two years.
After a stint at the Red Cross, she began her five-year traveling physician career with Vanter Cruise Health Services, which provides medical staff to cruise liners.
When she’s not on the water, Charles lives in Cape Town with her three dogs Loki, Stella, and Maggie.
Charles and Jasmine did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Mail.
Many viewers wondered why the girl was not with her father on the rescue boat, but it appeared she needed to be closely examined by Charles and it was unsafe to move her until everyone was safely aboard the Dream.
The father was initially hailed as a hero for saving his daughter from almost certain death on her own in the ocean, without regard for his own life.
But he switched from hero to villain online amid claims he lifted his daughter on top of a 42.5-inch (3.5ft) railing for a photo, and she fell backwards off the ship.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating what happened, finally refuted the rumor on Wednesday afternoon.
Sheriff Gregory Tony said the girl was sitting on the railing and fell backwards through a porthole, but that her father didn’t put her there.
‘After the girl’s mother alerted her husband, who didn’t see the incident, he jumped into the ocean to save his daughter,’ he said.
‘BSO detectives said after the 37-year-old father found his daughter, he treaded water until they were rescued by a tender that was launched from the ship.’
Deck four includes a jogging track and is lined with railings that extend 42.5 inches (3.5ft) from the floor with plexiglass in front of them.
Indoor sections have open portholes that could easily be climbed out of but not fallen through.
Passengers said the girl’s mother was too distraught to watch the rescue
‘The crew said the mom was brought inside away from the edge and that she was hysterical the entire time,’ Monica Shannon, who was on holiday with her husband and young child, told the Daily Mail.
Within seconds of the girl falling, the ship’s automatic man overboard alarm and the emergency code ‘Mr MOB’ blared over the intercom.
Minutes later, the crew readied a yellow motorized rescue boat and went after the stricken pair as hundreds of passengers rushed to the railings.
Flotation rings were thrown into the water, but they were either too far away, or the father couldn’t grab them without risking letting go of his daughter.
Passengers described the massive 130,000 gross tonnage ship, which travels at 25mph, turning around as the rescue boat raced to find them before they drowned.
Disney Cruise Line later praised its crew for their actions.
‘The crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water. We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.
‘We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.’
The Disney Dream was built in 2010 and last refurbished in 2024, according to Cruise Mapper.