Local News in Brief : La Jolla

A San Diego lifeguard was injured Thursday morning at La Jolla Cove after rescuing a man who had fallen from a slippery cliff, reported Chuck Davey, a city lifeguard.

Lifeguard Dave Johnson was treated for minor injuries at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla after he was engulfed by waves and pinned under a reef in an eastern section of the Cove called “The Hole,” Davey said. Johnson required several stitches to close a large wound at the back of his head, and he suffered cuts and bruises on his back and legs, hospital spokeswoman Diane Yohe said.

Johnson was injured when he went to the rescue of a man who had slipped off a muddy cliff and into the water at the cove. The lifeguard paddled into the cove on a rescue board and pulled the unidentified man out of the water. They then attempted to climb a 40-foot cliff, Davey said.

Johnson, hampered by his rescue board, was making slower progress up the side of the cliff than his rescue victim. A lifeguard on top of the cliff threw a rope to the victim and pulled him to safety.

A rope was also thrown to Johnson, who secured it around his waist. But a set of large waves came in and broke over him, dragging Johnson and his rescue board off the cliff and under a reef, Davey said. When the waves subsided, Johnson was pulled to safety and taken to the hospital.