NY Firefighter saves 3 girls from Outer Banks rip tide | The Boneyard

NY Firefighter saves 3 girls from Outer Banks rip tide

The rip currents in the OBX are legendary. That guy impresses the heck out of me.

I rescued a woman from a rip tide there two summers ago. She was a non-swimmer (!) from Kentucky and she and her boyfriend were enjoying the water up to their waists-- and then suddenly, she was pulled out and couldn't get back in. This was a beach without lifeguards and only one other group on the foreseeable horizon. I was reading, not really looking and then I heard and saw her boyfriend waving and yelling. At first, I thought he was in trouble, but then he pointed to her, out in the ocean. Thank God my Red Cross lifeguard training from 35+ years ago kicked in and I was able to get her. (And, if you do the math, you can tell that I am not young.) My partner tried to call 911, but could only connect to the mainland and not our island-- scary stuff. When I finally got the woman in, she and her boyfriend just kept thanking me over and over again. I told her that all I really wanted was for her to promise me that, when she got home to Kentucky, she find a Y and take swimming lessons.

Every year, for the two weeks that I go down there, there is at least one drowning. That's an awful memory to have from what should be a wonderful family vacation.

The moral of the story:
PLEASE, take swimming lessons. Know how to swim. Then, know how to get out of a rip tide (swim parallel to it until you can feel it's gone, rather than try to fight your way back in-- a fight you will lose). The power of nature is really awesome.
 
.-.
The moral of the story:
PLEASE, take swimming lessons. Know how to swim. Then, know how to get out of a rip tide (swim parallel to it until you can feel it's gone, rather than try to fight your way back in-- a fight you will lose). The power of nature is really awesome.

Amen to the swimming lessons... And swim where there are lifeguards if possible... And ASK the guards about conditions before you go into the ocean water... --From an aged NJ beach guard.
 

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