Surfers rush to rescue person drowning in California coast, officials say

Surfers rushed to help a person struggling off the California coast and may have saved them, officials said.

The person is in critical condition after they were pulled from the water off San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on Monday, Aug. 22, the fire department said. The person was in the surf near Wawona at about 9:30 a.m.

Rescue swimmers and paramedics also helped the person. They gave them “advanced life support,” which included CPR. The person was taken to a local emergency room in critical condition.

Officials did not disclose the person’s identity.

Jonathan Baxter, a public information officer for the San Francisco Fire Department, told SFGATE the person may have been fishing on the beach before they were in the water.

“Nobody knows at this point if there was a preexisting medical emergency,” Baxter told the news outlet.

This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Surfers rush to rescue person drowning in California coast, officials say."