By:Doug Miller
Long Beach has on loan two Yamaha Wave Runners for the duration of the summer, and last Saturday the deal paid off, as lifeguards were able to save two boys, ages 14 and 16, who were caught in a pre-hurricane rip current off National beach. Because of the amount of seawater they had swallowed, the boys were treated at Long Beach Medical Center and released.
The boys are brothers, Luis and Cesar Castillo, 14 and 16, respectively. A friend of the family said they were traumatized by the incident, but went to church on Sunday with their mother, Virna Sanchez, to pray for the men who rescued them. ÒThey had a drowning in their family three years ago in the Dominican Republic,Ó said the friend, Mary Marks. ÒA cousin of the boys, a young girl, drowned, and her father, her uncle and a friend all drowned trying to rescue her. That people would risk their lives to save them is a miracle to them.Ó
Cesar and Luis are believed to have entered the water around 6:25 p.m. Saturday, after the lifeguards went off duty. They almost immediately got into trouble, according to rescuers. Tom Daly, a beach supervisor, was trying to lock up, he said, when he saw the boys.
ÒI radioed to the police, ÔLifeguard 28 National Boulevard,Õ and went in,Ó he said. ÒI had no time to even wait for a response. I swam out with a [rescue buoy], got to the closest boy and had a tough decision to make. I picked him up, put him on the [buoy], and swam out to the second victim.
ÒAs soon as I reached the second boy,Ó Daly continued, ÒI saw that the first was starting to panic and went under, so I brought him back up and put him back on the buoy. Then I told them that we were stuck and were going to have to swim out around the jetty.
ÒI looked back and saw my brother John swimming out to us. I gave him the second guy and we both started out around the jetty. ThatÕs when we saw Matt and Matty.Ó
The two Matts, lifeguards Matthew Hopkins and Matty Kohut, had brought out a Wave Runner, and Kohut piloted it out to the scene. The boys and the lifeguards were brought around the jetty and in to safety.
The watercraft, Yamaha Wave Runner FX Cruisers, are at the cityÕs disposal through the end of the season, when they will be returned to Whaleneck Marina in Freeport. Their use is costing the city nothing, and they not only help lifeguards make rescues like the one last weekend, but serve as a deterrent to other personal watercraft users who might be tempted to venture into swimming areas.
ÒThey give us a great advantage in speed and in height,Ó said Tom Daly. ÒWe can be at Ohio Avenue in three minutes, and can now see above the waves.Ó
And the craft fit nicely with new theories in lifeguarding. ÒThe East Coast thinking used to be, Swim them in,Ó said John Skudin, Long BeachÕs chief of lifeguards. ÒNow itÕs, Bring them out and wait for the jet ski.Ó
