Reports say that everyone escaped unscathed from what could have been a tragic situation. Photo: Santa Cruz Now//Instagram
Bystanders recorded a dangerous lifeguard rescue in Santa Cruz, California, on Saturday, July 25, as Southern Hemisphere swells slammed the West Coast. Reports at the scene say there were no serious injuries after lifeguards struggled to pull a boy out of surging waves.
In a video captured by the Instagram page @santacruznow, a lifeguard responded to a boy struggling in heavy surf at Seabright State Beach. Waves continued to pound the lifeguard as he attempted to pull the boy out of the water, and water rushing back down the beach’s steep slope hindered them from getting out of the ocean.
“There was probably about a dozen people that helped,” Scott Vander Dussen, a witness, told ABC7 News Bay Area. “They formed a bit of a human chain because, at first, you see a couple of people run out and they felt the intensity of the waves and we didn’t want to have to see more people get rescued. I think they saw that, so they retreated.”
Eventually, with the help of another lifeguard and a few onlookers, the boy was successfully extricated. Santacruznow said the boy appeared to be in stable condition.
ABC7 said that this was just one of around 25 rescues in Santa Cruz County as a south swell pummeled the coast. Days before the incident, on July 23, the Santa Cruz County Fire Department shared warnings on social media about hazards, including “sneaker waves” and “breaking waves up to 10 feet.” They encouraged citizens to “remain out of the water to avoid hazardous surf.”
Earlier this summer, similar ocean conditions claimed the lives of two college students who drowned at Panther Beach in Santa Cruz County.
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