Have you ever saved a life in the water?
While Derek plays real estate agent, real surfers are doing things, heroic things, life-saving things.
Two days ago, surfer Ben Cross was in the water at Navarre Beach along Florida’s panhandle when he noticed an eleven-year-old kid floundering in the water, caught in a rip.
Cross paddled over, snatching him from certain drowning.
Was the act on par with Mikey Wright’s “Hold my beer” save on the North Shore? Not quite.
How could that be?
Still, Cross’s rescue saved a boy’s life yesterday.
And to top it off?
He walked away without taking any glory.
Here’s what ABC 3 – Pensacola reported:
“It was a typical Wednesday afternoon for Bebe Booth, taking pictures of dolphins on the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier — but that all changed when she spotted a young boy in her camera lens. He was really struggling,” she said. “The riptide actually took this boy out.
Moments later, she said she saw a nearby surfer come to the boy’s rescue.
‘If that young man didn’t make it there as fast as he did, the young boy wouldn’t be here with us,’ Booth said.
Navarre Beach Fire Rescue Chief Danny Fureigh says what happened was the difference between life and death for the boy, who got caught in a rip current.
Booth says after emergency crews came and assisted the boy back on land, the surfer left as a silent hero.
So she posted the photos she took on social media in hopes to give him the recognition he deserves.
We wanted to make sure that his name got out,” she said.
Her photo did just that and the nameless hero, Benjamin Cross, was found.
This scary story ultimately had a happy ending.
Benjamin’s mother, Andrea Cross, told WEAR-TV: “He is very grateful for all the love and support on social media the past couple of days and will receive a certificate and a T-shirt from the Navarre Beach Fire Department in recognition for his help with them yesterday.”
https://twitter.com/weartv/status/1411002802525048835
Classic: I saved a kid’s life, and all I got was this crummy t-shirt.
Have you ever saved a life in the water?
If so, did you want credit for it?
And a t-shirt?
I’ve never saved anyone. Disappointed somehow.