The body of an elderly cruise passenger was found Sunday, Oct. 26, on a Great Barrier Reef Island after she had been left behind by crew, according to national media outlets.
Suzanne Rees, 80, of Sydney, Australia, was hiking on Saturday, Oct. 25, with other passengers before she was separated from the group. She was feeling unwell earlier in the day during the hike, her daughter, Katherine Rees, told reporters, and was told to return to the ship on her own.
The ship left the island allegedly without “checking whether all passengers” had returned. Rees was reported missing, NBC News reported, and the ship returned to the island to begin a “large-scale” search.
Additional details, including Rees’ cause of death or how her absence went unnoticed, were not immediately available Thursday, Oct. 30. Officials with Queensland Police told reporters that the coroner is investigating the incident as a non-suspicious death.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is also investigating.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm with decades of experience successfully handling cruise ship injury cases. Our skilled trial attorneys work to secure the best possible outcome for every client, whether their injuries stemmed from inadequate medical treatment while aboard the ship, a delayed medical evacuation, an injury on board, a crime, or an injury incurred while on a cruise ship excursion.
As common carriers, cruise lines owe a heightened duty of care to ensure the safety and well-being of their passengers. This duty encompasses maintaining hazard-free decks, promptly repairing loose railings and ensuring that excursion transportation – such as buses – are safe and properly maintained.
Additionally, cruise lines are obligated to provide adequate medical care while at sea and to recognize when a passenger’s condition requires emergency evacuation. Similarly, they must take reasonable measures to protect passengers from criminal acts, whether committed by fellow passengers or crew members.
And these duties do not end when passengers embark on shore excursions. Partner Justin B. Shapiro is representing a client injured in a jet ski excursion incident where a cruise ship tour guide negligently collided with her from behind, resulting in severe and painful spinal fractures.
That case is ongoing.
Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II is representing a woman in another ongoing case involving an injury she suffered while coming back to her cruise ship following a shore excursion. The woman tripped and fell on an uneven bridge on shore, seriously injured her left ankle, knee, arm and elbow, leaving her in a great deal of pain. She was able to walk back to the tender boat where she informed the crew she would need to see the ship’s physician.
No action was taken to ensure that medical personnel would be there to meet her when she arrived. She disembarked without assistance and, while walking up the gangway, paused to gather herself while in extreme pain. She told the crew she needed immediate medical attention. The crew, again, failed to provide a wheelchair or another means of transport to the infirmary. While still on the gangway, crew members approached our client and grabbed her arm. She fell to the floor in agony and was finally given a wheelchair and taken to the infirmary.
While there, she was diagnosed with multiple fractures to her hip and shoulder. Hours later, she was transferred to a remote hospital in Brazil and was left to wait a full week with insufficient medical care before she could be transported to a larger city and then to the U.S. for a full hip replacement.
She spent weeks recovering at a hospital in Florida before she was able to return to her home in another state.
Previous Cruise Ship Excursion Cases
Previously, Leesfield & Partners represented a family after a mother and daughter bought a parasailing excursion while aboard a cruise ship. What should have been a thrilling adventure shared between the two turned into a nightmare while they were up in the air. A malfunction with the excursion equipment caused them to fall rapidly toward the water. Tragically, the mother did not survive, and her daughter was left with a traumatic brain injury. The case was resolved with a combined settlement of $7.25 million for the families.
In another cruise ship excursion case, Leesfield & Partners recovered nearly $3 million for the tragic death of our client’s adult son. In that case, the young man was traveling with his family and ventured out on a cruise-sanctioned bus excursion. When the bus was involved in a crash, our client’s son was ejected and suffered fatal injuries, a devastating loss for the family.
A rollover ATV crash on a shore excursion caused serious injuries to multiple passengers. Leesfield & Partners settled the case for over $1.2 million.
Our 68-year-old client sustained severe injuries, including a fractured femur, when thrown off a “banana boat” during a cruise’s water sport excursion. The firm secured a $600,000 settlement in that case.
Previous Medical Malpractice Cases
While on a cruise ship, a 16-year-old Leesfield & Partners client was suffering a stroke. Despite her clear signs and her family’s insistence, doctors disregarded them on the basis that teenagers “don’t have strokes.”
Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured a multi-million-dollar settlement in that case.
In a medical malpractice case involving a 9-month-old baby whose meningitis was misdiagnosed by cruise ship doctors, Leesfield & Partners attorneys obtained a multi-million-dollar recovery. The child in that case underwent multiple amputations due to the doctor’s failure.
For a 72-year-old who worked as a nurse before her retirement, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $4.24 million settlement after a cruise line failed to test blood administered to her during a medical emergency. As a result, the woman was later diagnosed with HIV. The transfused blood was donated by another passenger.
Another woman, 65, suffered a stroke while onboard a cruise ship that failed to evacuate her in a timely manner. She was awarded $4 million thanks to the diligence and hard work of Leesfield & Partners.
The firm recovered over $3 million for a crew member whose arm was amputated due to the negligence and lack of knowledge of a cruise ship’s medical professionals.
A horrific example of a cruise ship doctor’s negligent medical care involved a crew member who went to the infirmary with symptoms of nausea. While giving him medication that could have eased his symptoms, the cruise’s medical staff ignored a black box warning label on the box that instructed them to give the drug slowly and inject it deep into the muscle. Instead, this staff injected the medication into the man’s IV all at once. He was in immediate agony, the start of an hours-long, excruciating experience.
Doctors aboard the cruise ship searched online for what to do. When the man was eventually able to seek medical treatment on land, his right arm had undergone severe tissue damage. In the end, it could not be saved and doctors had to amputate.
The man was awarded over $3.3 million at arbitration.