Lifeguard Weekly News – July 4th Holiday Rescues

Lifeguard News Around July 4th

The July 4th holidays are all but a memory now.

Prior to the holidays, people looked forward to showing off their summer bodies and or swimming skills at the beach. Now that the holidays are over, the beaches are less crowded and summer bodies are fast getting replaced by the usual body physique.

Through all of this, one thing hasn’t changed – Lifeguards!

Before, during and after the holidays, lifeguards in the United States always stood watch and ensured the safety of beachgoers while they had fun. And while it is easy to say “They signed up for it”, it is important that we remember that as each beachgoer shows up to the beach, ready to have some fun, the lifeguards show up to the same beach but with a different plan – to save lives!

Here on Lifeguard Times™, we are dedicated to putting a spotlight on lifeguards and their activities each week. This weeks’ lifeguard news features rescues in the US, UK, and Asia, as well as a Sand Shark rescue.

• Chicago Park District Honors Lifeguards Who Rescued 11-Year-Old Boy
• Stevenage Lifeguard Saves Two Teens At Hitchin Pool
• Patong Lifeguard Rescues Chinese Tourist
• Sand Shark Rescued From Beach Haven

Chicago Park District Honors Lifeguards Who Rescued 11-Year-Old Boy

An 11-year-old boy who had ventured into the waters of Lake Michigan on a boat with his uncle can tell a story of how he “almost drowned”, thanks to Lifeguard Jasmine Bates and her crew. The rescue which was executed earlier this month ensued after Bates received a distress call over the radio.

It took a couple of minutes for Bates and her crew to get to the scene and swing into action. The ball had fallen off the boat and was going under when the lifeguards came to his rescue. His uncle, however, had died while trying to save the boy.

Recounting the ordeal, Bates said lifeguards had spotted someone floating past the buoys that were used to mark the safe swimming areas in the water. Chasing the body, two other lifeguards got into a boat and went out to rescue the 11-year-old boy, who was given oxygen as soon as they rescued and returned him to shore.

After a fruitless search for the boy’s uncle, it took divers from a rescue helicopter to find him after some 30 minutes. And although they immediately administered CPR, they were unable to resuscitate him. The 31-year-old was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Bate and her lifeguard crew were honored this week for their heroic efforts.

Stevenage Lifeguard Saves Two Teens At Hitchin Pool

When 23-year-old lifeguard Danny Buckley showed up to work on Monday, he knew as every lifeguard should, that he might have to jump in and save a life. So when a group of students from Stevenage’s Nobel School who had visited the pool at Hitchin Swimming Centre had water troubles, Danny stepped up to the plate.

The incident which occurred as at 9:30 am started out quite uneventful until one schoolboy panicked and went under. In a fight for his life, he’d reached out to and grabbed his friend, and the story took a new turn – two schoolboys were drowning.

Danny, a lifeguard since he was 16, said he had warned the school kids to get back to the shallow area just minutes before the incident. Speaking about the incident, Danny said he had quickly jumped into the pool to find the boys fully submerged at the bottom of the pool. Danny grabbed both boys (one on the right, one on the left) and pulled them back to the surface.

In a modest recount, Danny says “I don’t consider myself a hero in any way” but his friends and colleagues at the pool would beg to differ as they now tease Danny with a phrase we have used quite often here on Lifeguard Times™ – “Not all superheroes wear capes”.

Patong Lifeguard Rescues Chinese Tourist

The Patong Beach in Phuket is quite the tourist attraction, so it is not unusual to find tourists having a nice time by the beach. It is also not unusual to find the Phuket Lifeguard service making the news for one successful rescue or another. This time, it involved Samat Rattanmat, a lifeguard at the Patong Beach who spotted a tourist fighting a losing battle with the waves.

Rattanmat drove up to her on a jet-ski and rescued her. The tourist was later taken to the hospital for examination. According to a Facebook post by “Phuket Lifeguard service”, the lady returned to the beach upon her recovery to thank the lifeguard for saving her life.

Brave Man And Lifeguards Rescue Sand Shark From Beach Haven

A title that reads “…rescues Shark” would seem like a typographical error as people are usually getting rescued from the predator.

The incident which took place on Sunday afternoon at Beach Haven, New Jersey saw the giant Shark heading towards the shoreline, throwing beachgoers in frenzy.

Eyewitnesses say that even though the Shark had caused a stir as it came on dry land, the real highlight of the event was when a man stepped out from the crowd and grabbed the shark with bare hands and ran towards the water.

One of the lifeguards took the Shark from him as they both went into the surf in a bid to let the shark run free. They, however, ran got into distress because they were a little too deep. This was when a second lifeguard went out to salvage the situation.

Sand Sharks are known to be less aggressive than other Sharks but it takes no less bravery to reach out to a predator and save it.

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