A U.S. Navy crew came to the aid of a teenage girl suffering from a ruptured appendix while at sea aboard a cruise ship over the weekend. The girl was lifted onto a helicopter and transported the nearest hospital facility... a nuclear aircraft carrier.

The girl, 14-year old Laura Montero, became ill Friday while aboard the Dawn Princess, a cruise ship located off the coast of Baja, California. The ship sent out a distress call, which was received by the USS Ronald Reagan, 500 miles away.

The nuclear carrier took off to the location of the cruise ship overnight, and a helicopter headed for the final stretch of the journey at 5 a.m. Saturday. Upon reaching the ship 45 minutes later, a medic was lowered and put Montero on a basket, before pulling her aboard. The helicopter then headed back to the USS Reagan to give Montero an appendectomy.

Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Leland spoke of the rescue, saying "We practice this all the time, but this is the first time I've pulled a civilian off a cruise ship."

Montero's mother, Trudy LaField, told the television show "Good Morning America" that "It was a matter of life and death so it wasn't very good at all... They evacuated the whole back end of the ship so that the helicopter could come and lower the basket. They put her in the basket. She had a little stuffed animal dog and she was holding that for dear life."

Julie Benson, a spokesman for the Dawn Princess, noted "Where the ship was, where the land was and the fact that the Ronald Reagan had [a surgical facility] on board were all factors that came into play." The AP further quoted, "The option is to go to the nearest medical facility that can treat the patient."

Montero is expected to make a full recovery and be sent home by Christmas.