St. Pete Beach Lifeguards Save 9 Lives Memorial Day

Greetings to lifeguards who rescued on Memorial Day 9

Photojournalist Corey Beckman reports

NS. PETERSBURG, Fl. – Memorial Day 2021 is a day Steve Gordon will never forget.

“I’ve lived here all my life and this is the greatest salvation St. Pete Beach has ever seen,” he said.

When Gordon noticed that a number of emergency vehicles were parked in front of his home on Boca Ciega Island, he grabbed his camera.

“The rescue had to be documented,” he recalls.

That emergency was a capsized boat in the canal just behind Gordon’s house. St. Pete Beach Fire and Rescue was on site with lifeguards Patrick Strong, Blake Sweeney, Jeshual Velez Cuevas and Coleman Vail. They rode paddleboards into the dark, choppy water.

“At first we couldn’t really tell what was going on. We just heard a lot of yelling,” recalls Coleman Vail.

Strong winds made it almost impossible for rescuers to hear where the screeching swimmers were.

“When you walk into the dark with multiple screeching voices, you don’t know what you’re up to and what you’re going to see. You always fear the worst, so the first question is, ‘Is anyone hurt? ‘”added firefighter EMT Patrick Strong.

Fortunately, it wasn’t anyone. But then they found out that there were nine boaters in the water, five of whom were children.

“When you have children and you know that there are children, your adrenaline rises a little more. So you definitely want to make sure that you are doing everything for the families,” said fire department medic Jeshual Velez Cuevas.

One by one, the lifeguards paddled to the shore about 300 meters away and made several trips in complete darkness. A boat driver could hear her say, “I thought I was going to die” when she came ashore in Gordon’s back yard.

“The fire department was just absolutely focused on saving these people. There was no panic, they were just down to business.

A little over half an hour after the first call, all nine boaters and four lifeguards were ashore.

“It was good to see family and friends and everyone back together, relaxing a little. Check them all out, just take a step back and talk to colleagues. High five them like we did a good job tonight. ”Coleman Vail added.

The post St. Pete Beach Lifeguards Save 9 Lives Memorial Day first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/st-pete-beach-lifeguards-save-9-lives-memorial-day/