A 15-year-old boy tragically drowned at an unguarded beach in New Jersey over the Memorial Day weekend.
The incident occurred at Sandy Hook Beach, where the unnamed teenager was swimming with others in an area with no lifeguards on duty. Onlookers were alerted to the situation when they saw the teens drifting in the current.
Witnesses and lifeguards from nearby areas rushed to the scene and evacuated several of the struggling swimmers from the water. Then a woman started shouting that she could not see her son.
“People jumped into the water to save the swimmers,” said witness Luis Sanchez. “However, one was still missing. They eventually pulled him out and started performing CPR, but unfortunately, they couldn’t revive him.”
The tragic event transpired at Beach B, a segment of the Gateway National Recreation Area in Monmouth County. Officials had previously cautioned beachgoers with signs indicating the absence of lifeguards at the site.
Sanchez added, “When it’s windy and the weather is like this, there can be rip tides, which can lead to easy drowning.” One woman, who hadn’t come to the beach to swim, just stepped into the water and said “even at that, I was feeling pulled”.
Of the five surviving swimmers, one declined medical attention, while the others were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.
