Anchorage Daily News

COMOX, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- A 37-year-old American woman suffering from severe abdominal pains was airlifted by a Canadian military helicopter from the cruise ship Mercury near the north end of Vancouver Island Saturday.

The woman's condition was bad enough that the ship's doctor felt it necessary to call for help.

The ship was en route from Seattle to Juneau.

A Cormorant helicopter was dispatched from Comox while the Coast Guard ship Tanu, which was on search-and-rescue patrol in the area, also proceeded to the scene to provide surface support.

Two search-and-rescue technicians were lowered onto the ship from the Cormorant.

Then the woman, her husband and the two technicians were hoisted up into the helicopter.

"She was stable but uncomfortable," flight nurse Capt. Pat Forrester said in a news release.

Once at Comox, the patient was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph's General Hospital.

-- The Associated Press