By JEFF LIPTON
They have known each other recently only as passing acquaintances while riding the surf’s waves, but they will forever be linked by an incident that took place on Saturday, July 26. That’s when Rohrmeier, 28, of Rochester Avenue in East Atlantic Beach, was credited with heroically rescuing Zezula, who severely injured his leg in the water and was losing a lot of blood.
Rohrmeier acted quickly to pull the severely injured Zezula to shore and created a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding, probably saving his life.
"I owe my life to him, really," Zezula, 54, of Connecticut Avenue in Long Beach, said of Rohrmeier. "I’ll be eternally grateful to him."
Rohrmeier was hitting the surf at 7:30 a.m. on July 26, when he was having a conversation with fellow surfer Zezula, whom he had seen once or twice before in the water.
They got separated with both riding waves, when Zezula suddenly got knocked off his surfboard, possibly by hitting a sandbar. He landed on the fin on the bottom of the board, which tore into his left thigh.
"I was having a conversation with him for 10 to 15 minutes, it was just small talk, and the next thing I know he’s taking a wave and he’s screaming for help," said Rohrmeier. "It was kind of a freaky thing, to be honest with you."
Rohrmeier, who was about 50 yards away from the badly injured surfer, quickly paddled toward the victim and soon reached him. "The way he was screaming and yelling I thought he would drown," said Rohrmeier. "I looked at his leg and it seemed like he impaled his leg on the fin of the surfboard."
Zezula said he remembers holding his leg with both hands because he was afraid it would fall apart and float away. "Thank God, I didn’t slice the artery," he said.
Noticing the severe gash, which was about four inches long and four inches deep, Rohrmeier quickly pulled the injured surfer to shore. He then took the injured surfer’s leash, which is a plastic rope used to attach the board to a surfer’s ankle, and wrapped it around Zezula’s upper leg to stop the bleeding.
"That was the worst wound that I’ve seen in my life," said Rohrmeier. "I used the leash like a tourniquet. I held it on the wound and I called for help."
He said three or four others came running to assist him and used the victim’s surfboard as a stretcher to carry him closer to the road on Georgia Avenue, so that the ambulance could quickly transport him to a hospital. He was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital, where he underwent more than two hours of surgery to repair his badly damaged leg and muscle. He received about 50 stitches and 40 staples to close the wound.
Rohrmeier said he visited him shortly after the accident and Zezula couldn’t thank him enough.
"He said to me, ‘You saved my life, you saved my life,’" said Rohrmeier. "I was just in the right place at the right time. I was just happy that I could help someone out. A lot of people would do what I did. It was just a great feeling to help someone."
To show his appreciation, Zezula gave Rohrmeier his tickets to see The Police in concert at Jones Beach the following Monday.
"The guy couldn’t be a nicer guy," Rohrmeier said of Zezula.
Zezula said he will need until around Labor Day to recover and then he will begin physical therapy to strengthen his leg.
He said he will head back into the water as soon as he can because he still loves surfing.
"What the hell, I love the water," Zezula said.
Comments about this story? Jlipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
