Tourist in Critical Condition Following Pacific Beach Rescue
A visitor from Britain was in critical condition Sunday after being pulled from the ocean off south Pacific Beach when he got caught in a strong rip current and nearly drowned.
The man, whose identity was not revealed pending notification of his relatives, was swimming near Oliver Street just before 9 a.m. when he was swept away, lifeguards said.
Jennifer Price, a San Diego lifeguard, had arrived for work five minutes early when she was alerted of the man’s plight by his teen-age son, according to lifeguard Sean Green.
When Price paddled out into the waves, the man was floating face down. Despite the strong rip tide, she pulled him back into the beach and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the help of other lifeguards, Green said.
The victim was rushed to Mission Bay Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition after sinking into a coma, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Lifeguards rescued 22 other swimmers at the same location during the day, Green said.
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