A 28-year-old man has been rescued from the Gulf of Mexico after falling off of a cruise ship and spending hours in the water.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was rescued by the Coast Guard on Thanksgiving, hours after being reported missing. The man had apparently fallen off the Carnival Valor, a ship from the Carnival Cruise Line that was en route to Mexico.

USCG Lt. Seth Gross characterized the rescue as “a miracle” in an interview with WWL-TV.

“I will say one of the highlights of my Coast Guard career was calling the family who was onboard the Carnival Valor to let them know their son was alive and en route to additional medical care,” Gross said. “Truly just a miracle especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving where it’s predominantly around family and spending time together.”

Gross said that the rescued man was stable, but appeared to have mild hypothermia, shock, and dehydration.

The ship was in the midst of a five day cruise beginning in New Orleans, and including stops in Cozumel and Progreso in Mexico. The man’s sister reported him missing after he had not returned to his room after leaving to go to the bathroom at around 11 p.m. Wednesday evening.

Rescue crews had to be on the lookout for a search area about the size of Massachusetts since the ship had gone 200 miles since the man had last been seen.

After being spotted in the water by a cargo ship, a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew pulled the man out of the water and brought him to an emergency medical care unit in New Orleans. He was lifted out of the water at about 8:25 p.m. Thursday, after spending hours in the water.

“We are beyond grateful that this case ended with a positive outcome,” Gross said. “It took a total team effort from Coast Guard watchstanders, response crews, and our professional maritime partners operating in the Gulf of Mexico to locate the missing individual and get him to safety. If not for the alert crew aboard the motor vessel Crinis, this case could have had a much more difficult ending.”

The Coast Guard Heartland shared footage on Twitter of the rescue.

Footage from the rescue of the cruise ship passenger last night. Can also be downloaded here: https://t.co/xk0pBnVr1E pic.twitter.com/GK1IXCKlgx

— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) November 25, 2022

Authorities in Florida said that they stopped a woman from causing a “mass casualty” event on Thanksgiving when they say she tried to drive her SUV through a Turkey Trot course that had thousands of people on it.

The St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) said that it happened early Thursday morning when 38-year-old Ashlee Lauren Morgan drove her Range Rover at a high rate of speed and approached officers who were parked near a bridge with their emergency lights on, Fox 13 reported.

“Morgan was observed driving recklessly south on Coffee Pot Boulevard Northeast, approaching the Snell Isle Bridge,” the department said. “Three officers made contact with her, requested her credentials, she refused, and fled the scene of the stop at a high rate of speed onto the racecourse.”

The officers tried to stop Morgan before she drove past them and onto to the road where approximately 3,000 people were participating in the 5K race.

Police say that Morgan “refused, ignored commands of ‘stop!’ and fled the scene of the stop at an extremely high rate of speed, onto the actual racecourse, further putting the lives of runners/race participants at risk.”

Police further said that Morgan had “acknowledged” a law enforcement officer but gave a dismissive hand gesture when she decided to drive off.

When she was confronted by an official saying that she was driving on an enclosed road, she became enraged, police said. Officers were later able to stop her.

Police added, “If it were not for the officers at the intersecting gaining the defendant’s attention, and forcing her to stop, she would have ignored all traffic safety obstacles strategically placed at the intersection, and barreled through the intersection causing mass casualty to race participants.”

The North Shore Elementary PTA, which hosted the 5K run, released a statement expressing “gratitude” for the actions of the police department.

“On behalf of the North Shore Elementary PTA, we would like to express our gratitude to the St. Petersburg Police Department for their quick actions to protect participants in yesterday’s Coffee Pot Turkey Trot 5K from a reckless driver,” the statement said. “Our race planning committee works closely with the St. Petersburg Police Department on route management, course safety, and communication of street closings. This incident underscores the importance of those efforts. Yesterday’s Coffee Pot Turkey Trot 5K was carried out safely and successfully and we thank the police for their work and our participants for entrusting us with their safety.”

Morgan was charged with reckless driving, fleeing and eluding police, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, and resisting an officer without violence.