# A wedding cruise, then a fall by the pool

> A Minnesota pastor flew to Italy for his son's wedding and never came home.
- Title: A wedding cruise, then a fall by the pool · Fox News
- Summary: A Minnesota pastor flew to Italy for his son's wedding and never came home. A fall on vacation abroad is not just a medical emergency, it is a logistics and…
- Keywords: cruise, travel safety, italy, medical evacuation, family, news, politics, wedding, fall, pool, Fox News
- Source: Fox News — https://foxnews.com/travel/dad-dies-horrifying-cruise-ship-accident-while-celebrating-sons-wedding
- Author: Kelly McGreal
- Published: 2026-09-11T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: cruise, travel safety, italy, medical evacuation, family, news, politics
## A trip that should have been joyful
Steve Junker, a pastor from Elbow Lake, Minnesota, boarded the Sun Princess in Italy to celebrate his son's wedding.
## Found face down in the pool
On August 16 he fell, and was later found unresponsive in a ship pool. His family says he suffered a severe spinal cord injury and nearly drowned.
## Off the ship, into intensive care
The ship's medical team treated him before he was taken ashore. An Italian Coast Guard boat carried him to a hospital in Naples, straight to the ICU.

> The guest was attended to by the ship's medical team and subsequently transferred ashore for further care
## Surgery worked, the injury stayed
Surgeons operated on his spine the next day. The family called the procedure successful, but the spinal cord damage was still severe.
## Getting him home was its own fight
The family had to navigate care in another country and pay for medical transport back to the US. He reached the Mayo Clinic in Rochester on August 23.

> We are working through the medical, logistical and financial challenges of arranging appropriate medical transport
## He died on September 4
Junker passed away surrounded by loved ones. A former pharmacist who went into ministry, he left a wife, five children and a grandchild, and a church that called him deeply loved.

> Pastor Steve was a wonderful person, loved by many
## Key takeaway

A fall on vacation abroad is not just a medical emergency, it is a logistics and money emergency that families have to solve from thousands of miles away.