Three surfers were the first to respond to a man who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Tuesday, November 10. Miraculously, the man survived the more than 200-foot fall, and the surfers kept him afloat.
ABC7 first reported on the story and spoke with one of the heroic surfers, 17-year-old Colby Ralls of San Rafael.
“Everyone was yelling to the beach to call someone,” Ralls told ABC7. “And then he ended up just jumping off. There were guys up there telling him not to, and he just jumped off. Right as we saw that happen, me and a couple other guys that were out there just started paddling to go get him.”
Ralls says the man, who appeared to be in his twenties, was conscious and calling for help after hitting the water.
“We were all kind of just stabilizing the board and keeping him afloat, because he couldn’t really swim,” Ralls said. “The guys were talking to him like, ‘Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. We’re getting help.’”
Minutes later, a Coast Guard boat intercepted the victim, still in the water with the surfers. His current condition is unknown.
Coast Guard Lieutenant John Thompson said the surfers likely saved the man’s life.
“Hitting that water at that speed, you can experience shock very quickly,” Thompson told ABC7. “So those surfers being there, being able to pull the person onto a surfboard, provided those vital seconds in order to be able to save the person.”
The Golden Gate Bridge spans 1.7 miles across the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. At the south end of the bridge, there is a popular surf spot at Fort Point, which, luckily for the victim, had waves on Tuesday.
