Parachute rescuers, Navy warship save sick 1-year-old girl

A US Navy warship whisked a sick 1-year-old girl and her family off their crippled boat on Sunday morning and started a slow journey back to American soil, officials said.

The family of San Diego couple Charlotte and Eric Kaufman boarded the USS Vandegrift, about 900 miles off the Mexican coast, at about 8 a.m. PDT, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena told The Post.

The family, with ill 1-year-old Lyra and another 3-year-old girl, is expected to arrive in San Diego on Wednesday.

Medical personnel on board the USS Vandeg

USS VandegriftAP

rift will be able to keep the girl in stable condition until they get to a hospital in San Diego, authorities said.

“They’re on a more stable platform,” Bena said. “Being on a Navy ship is about as safe as you can be.”

The Kaufman family had taken their 36-foot vessel, the Rebel Heart, on a trip bound for  South Pacific islands and eventually New Zealand, family members said.

They were about two weeks into their trip, when Lyra caught a rash and high fever.

She didn’t respond to medication and the boat would not start, officials said.

 

They sent a satellite ping for help, leading to four California Air National Guard medical rescuers to parachute into the Pacific and reach them on Thursday night.

They kept the little girl stable as the Coast Guard and Navy planned Sunday’s intricate pickup.

“Everything was driven by the status of the infant,” said California Air National Guard 2nd Lt. Roderick Bersamina.

“She was stable, so they could take some time and better coordinate  the safest and most expeditious way to get off that vessel.”

After this morning’s rescue, the Kaufman’s ship was scuttled.

“On every attempt to start it, it caused the vessel to take on more water,” Bena said.  “If it was left out there, it’d be a hazard.”

Charlotte Kaufman’s sister Sariah Kay English had kept in daily e-mail contact with the family as it sailed. But she knew something was wrong when those communications stopped several days ago.

English said she wasn’t thrilled with her sister and brother-in-law’s plans to sail with two little kids: “I thought it was nuts.”

But English also said the parents take sailing very seriously and are always responsible.

“They were not going into this blind,” English said. “I knew they were doing this wisely.”