Navy wraps up daring rescue of sick toddler

A Navy warship rescued a sick toddler aboard a San Diego family's sailboat Sunday hundreds of miles off the coast of Mexico.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena told USA TODAY the frigate USS Vandegrift reached the 36-foot Rebel Heart on Sunday, and the entire family was taken aboard the Vandegrift bound for San Diego.

Charlotte and Eric Kaufman had attempted to sail across the Pacific Ocean with their daughters, Cora, 3, and Lyra, 1, according to their blog. The couple sent a distress ping to a satellite Thursday after Lyra became ill with a fever and rash.

That night, a four-person Air National Guard team from California's 129th Rescue Wing parachuted into the ocean, inflated a boat and reached the Rebel Heart to provide immediate medical attention.

The Rescue Wing reported Saturday that Lyra's condition had stabilized, but she needed medical treatment. Pararescuers stayed with the family and cared for the infant.

Pararescuers, sometimes called PJs or pararescue jumpers, combine parachuting, rescue techniques and emergency medical skills.

The Coast Guard said the Vandegrift reached the sailboat early Sunday. When daylight arrived, a Coast Guard statement said, the family and the California Air National Guard rescuer team were brought aboard using the Vandegrift's rigid hull inflatable boat.

"The family and the infant are reported in stable condition," the Coast Guard statement said. The Vandegrift is scheduled to arrive in San Diego midweek.

The rescue wrapped up several fearful days for family members. Charlotte Kaufman's sister, Sariah Kay English, posted Friday on Facebook: "Please keep my sister in your prayers. I have yet to get in contact with them. Will update more when I know."

The Rescue Wing said in a statement Saturday that the sailboat was almost 1,000 miles from Cabo San Lucas and had lost its steering and communication functions.

The couple's blog posts from early in the trip tell tales of family fun but also of hardships virtually from the time they left San Diego. The post for Day 3 begins, "As of about noon today the only thing I planned on writing for this entry was: This blows."

That day improved somewhat, the post goes on to say, but the next day's post says, "It is so hard to keep a positive outlook at sea when you feel awful. I was hoping that by day four my nausea would have subsided."

The Day 8 post begins, "I think this may be the stupidest thing we have ever done. 'Stupid' is the number one word that resonates throughout my day as we tick the slow minutes away to the kids' bed times each night."

It concludes a bit more upbeat: "Ultimately, how many people will ever experience the feeling of being surrounded by waves and wind, as close as an arm's reach away from them, for weeks and weeks? It is a difficult, self-imposed isolation that is completely worth it. Okay, maybe still a tiny bit stupid, but worth it."

The last entry was posted April 1, and it described some minor comfort enhancements. "We are in good spirits, as good as you can be, considering," it says. "We rearranged the sleeping arrangements yet again, and Eric and I both slept better than we have the entire trip. You know how you say you feel like a million bucks? We felt like twenty bucks before last night's sleep schedule, and now we feel like forty, or maybe even fifty bucks."

Two days later, the family sent out the distress ping.