Santa Ana Man Drowns in Surf, Another Rescued

A Santa Ana man drowned Saturday afternoon and his son-in-law was in critical condition after they both fell into the surf while fishing from a jetty in Palos Verdes’ Marineland Cove, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said.

Fong Lee, 68, died after efforts to resuscitate him failed shortly after the 12:30 p.m. accident, said Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Linnemeyer.

Lee’s son-in-law, Kevin Huang, 38, who fell into the water trying to help, was revived and taken to Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, Linnemeyer said.

Another fisherman who saw what was happening ran for help and came back with two scuba divers, Daniel Lee, 24--no relation to the drowning victim--and Gregory Wheeler, 32, both of Hermosa Beach, who had been diving nearby, Linnemeyer said.

When the three ran to the jetty, they found Lee and Huang floating face down, and the two divers jumped in to rescue them.

With the help of a sheriff’s deputy, who arrived on the scene at that time, they pulled them out of the water and onto the rocks, where they performed CPR on them, Linnemeyer said.

A sheriff’s rescue helicopter also arrived by then, with two paramedics and a doctor on board. As the aircraft hovered above the scene, they continued using CPR on both victims, but their efforts to revive Fong Lee failed, Linnemeyer said.

Huang was airlifted to the hospital, where his pulse was re-established and he began breathing on his own.

“The quick action by Lee and Wheeler may turn out to be responsible for saving Huang’s life,” Linnemeyer said.