Dramatic Video Captures Rescue of Woman Who Went Overboard While Taking Cruise Ship Selfie

A passenger has been rescued after falling 15 stories off a cruise ship balcony and into the pitch black sea near the Bahamas Tuesday night. 

Witnesses say she was taking a selfie aboard the Norwegian Epic on rough water when she suddenly plunged over. 

Fellow passengers could hear the 53-year-old woman screaming as she fell into the water below.

"I just didn't think it was possible to even find that person...," passenger Karen Kennedy told Inside Edition. "It was a simultaneous cheer all around. It was a relief to find out that she was alive." 

The ship came to a halt and a rescue boat was sent out. After more than an hour floating in the water, she was miraculously found.

The ship's captain made the announcement: "We found the person in the water, and she was picked up. She is now in the hospital, so everything is good there."

Sarah Kirby is one of the few people in the world who knows what it's like to fall off a cruise ship and live to tell about it.

In 2012, she slipped over her state room balcony. Infrared cameras captured her fall as she ricocheted off a life boat before hitting the choppy waters off the coast of Jamaica.
 
She was badly battered but somehow managed to tread water for 90 minutes before she was finally rescued.

"I felt helpless and hopeless," she told Inside Edition. "I kept praying and praying to God, 'Please don't let me die out here.'" 

Some ships are now equipped with infrared alarms built to detect a passenger going overboard.

In a statement to Inside Edition, Norwegian Cruise Line said they were thankful their team reacted quickly and was able to rescue the woman from the water.

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