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Fallen lifeguard is honored with statue near Newport Pier

A 9-foot-tall stainless-steel statue of late Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson is unveiled near the Newport Pier. Carlson, 32, died two years ago while rescuing a distressed swimmer.

A 9-foot-tall stainless-steel statue of late Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson is unveiled near the Newport Pier. Carlson, 32, died two years ago while rescuing a distressed swimmer.

(Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)
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Exactly two years after Ben Carlson made what would be his final rescue as a Newport Beach lifeguard, his family, friends and fellow guards unveiled a statue in his likeness that will watch over the shoreline.

The Ben Carlson Memorial Statue, made of marine-grade stainless steel, sits in McFadden Square near the Newport Pier, just steps from the Benjamin M. Carlson Lifeguard Headquarters, named in his honor in 2015.

Thousands of people packed McFadden Square Wednesday evening to remember Carlson’s legacy and honor his heroism. The crowd cheered as a gray sheet was pulled away to reveal the 9-foot-tall statue, which depicts Carlson clutching a rescue tube and fins in his left hand while his right hand shades his eyes as he gazes toward the ocean.

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A big-wave surfer, Carlson, 32, cherished the 15 years he spent protecting visitors and locals as a lifeguard in Newport Beach, family and friends said, who knew him, but he never sought accolades.

“If he were here watching this, he’d be laughing hysterically and pointing at us all,” Skeeter Leeper, who worked alongside Carlson as a lifeguard, said during the ceremony.

Jake Janz, an artist and Carlson’s brother-in-law, designed the statue using 3-D imaging technology.

On July 6, 2014, Carlson leaped off a rescue boat near the Newport Pier to save a distressed swimmer. Almost immediately after Carlson reached the swimmer and gave him a buoy, a large wave slammed the pair underwater. The swimmer surfaced and made it safely to shore, but Carlson did not.

After a three-hour search, his body was found near the pier. Carlson was the first Newport Beach lifeguard to die in the line of duty in the department’s nearly 100-year history.

“He has taught us all to respect the ocean now more than ever,” said Newport Beach lifeguard captain Rob Williams. “Ben and all of us are lifeguards for life and, in this case, lifeguards forever.”

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hannah.fry@latimes.com

Fry writes for Times Community News

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