“Right now I’m fighting for my leg, to keep it. It’s not just me, it’s the whole tribe, it’s a whole group."
A San Diego lifeguard is back home after nearly losing his life while surfing Nicaragua. Todd Rice, 23, was in the Central American country enjoying a fine pulse of swell when a panga ran him over deeply cutting his leg. The hit nearly caused Rice to lose consciousness but he mustered the internal fortitude to fashion a tourniquet from his leash and control the bleeding until help arrived.
“I came to terms that for one, at that point, I might die. So I said my goodbyes to the gentleman that was holding my head and told him to say certain things to my family. And then secondary, if I live, I’ve already come to terms that I might lose my leg,” Rice told Fox 5 news.
When his fellow lifeguards heard about the accident, they immediately sprang into action, coordinating with U.S. Embassy in Managua. “Seeing it bring together the service, and we’re there to facilitate and remind everyone within the service and the community that we are a family,” Hailey Westwood, president of the San Diego Lifeguard Association, declared.
Of course, being home presents its own challenges, what with the United States’ prohibitively expensive health care costs. The lifeguards are helping their comrade there too, though, setting up a GoFundMe which opens thusly:
Todd Rice is a staple in the community. Through his dedication to lifeguarding, he has made an impact from Ocean Beach to the shores of Blacks. He also has a great presence in the fishing and surfing communities, just a few of his many passions. The San Diego Lifesaving Association is happy to support one of our own lifeguards through this difficult time.
$43,279 of a $100,000 goal has already been raised.
“Right now I’m fighting for my leg, to keep it. It’s not just me, it’s the whole tribe, it’s a whole group. I feel like it’s the whole city that’s helping me out in this process,” Rice stated.
Friendship is a wonderful thing.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
Agree 100%, but then other questions arise. Examples: if you choose to surf or ski or snowboard, you might get hurt. Should the rest of society pay for that? Well, yeah, because there’s risk in life, and those are healthy activities. OK, but what if you choose to surf 50-ft. waves? Or jump off cliffs on skis or snowboards? Or choose to take your sailboat out in a hurricane? How much of your voluntary risk (whether pigging out on greaseburgers or going over Niagara Falls in a barrel) should the rest of us support?
Was it an accident? In Sayulita, Mexico a few years back, surfers reported homes torched, cars vandalized and shots fired because locals were sick of gringos and gringo surfers for whatever reason. This could have been a random but deliberate attack by a disgruntled local.
Maybe someone can donate a leg
USA!!
USA!!
USA!!
our drone strike game is on point. usually.
i like Mookie…
It’s like that Kevin Costner movie “If you build an all you can eat buffet, they will come!”
2 words folks Travel Insurance.
Costs couple hundred bucks and then you dont have to get your family and friends to beg go fund me donations, especially if your an american and a hospital stay will ruin you
Get well mate
A few months ago half the people on here were clowning pro surfers getting injured in Hawaii for not having travel insurance. Surely a 23 year lifeguard veteran must me clearing more than a 100k by now and could afford it. If not he needs to move to LA county where lifeguards can make 300 k. Remember that ANY accident that occurs in Mexico or Central America is ALWAYS the gringos fault. That’s just science.
It’s all about you.
holy fuck fatso
Imagine finding out why, where and how the panga collision happened.
There’s a link for that.
Link doesn’t answer any of that. It does say he’s a 23-year veteran of lifeguarding, not that he’s 23 years old. Which is what you wrote.
I miss the Charlie Smith that wrote the Ice Storm. I miss the Chas Smith that wrote Welcome to Hell. I miss Chas doing reporting.
I thought a 23 year old would be hard to be a veteran of anything (maybe a veteran of high school but thats about it)
Hey Pauly,
Do a meme about the scuz’ who stabbed up the priest over there……
With the unopened switchblade?
Word is Daddy Gub isn’t allowing them to meme it. They(gub) get to decide which memes are for viewing.
Is surfing in the paralympics?
Ask Bethany
ask Sasha
The US has had universal healthcare for years it’s called the ER.
it was $100 bucks per stitch in ER Kuhuku hospital in the year 2000, cant imagine how much it would be now
I just threw up a little.
Todd,
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
* * * * *
That Dods all you can eat thing is absolutely wild. I witnessed same thing! The amount of hot dog, nacho and soda a man can put down is really staggering.
If you really want to help vote for a political party that doesn’t promote making people pay for their medicine
Which party is that?
They wouldn’t even hold a vote on universal healthcare during the pandemic let alone actually fork over the $$$ to make it happen. Never going to happen in the USA.
It will if enough people ask for it.
Enough people asked to stop slavery, to allow women to vote, to allow black people to vote etc.
If by ask you mean got bludgeoned in the streets or died on battlefields, then yes, sometimes people have to ask before there is social change.
People die the other way too. A lot more.
Corporate capture things have changed over the years we now live in an oligarchy according to a Princeton study.
Bernie would go