Man Thanks Brigantine, NJ, Beach Patrol for Saving His Life

It is nice to see someone acknowledge a South Jersey lifeguard patrol's excellent work after saving his life. Most often, people don't do that, at least, publicly.

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Robert Furrevig wrote a note of thanks on the Brigantine Community page to the Brigantine Beach Patrol, specifically to Lifeguard Bobby, for coming to his rescue on Saturday after the man had a medical emergency while kayak surfing on the 42nd Street Beach.

Furrevig said he was thrown out of his boat by a wave and the kayak got away from him. As he prepared to swim to shore he experienced an asthma attack, which he attributes to the cold ocean water and the fact that he wasn't wearing a wetsuit.

I struggled for what seemed like an eternity and was losing the fight. Since panic will drown you, I was fighting to stay calm. I have been in many tough situations before and always found a way to crawl out of the ocean. Not this time. I was struggling for every breath and started praying.

When it began to seem that Furrevig was in real trouble, he looked up and saw a Brigantine lifeguard paddling out to him. It was Bobby coming to the rescue.

...I looked up and saw Bobby the lifeguard paddling swiftly towards me. I can’t tell ya how happy I was to see him. He handled the situation like a true professional. God bless you guys and thanks again for saving my life.

A million thanks to the brigantine beach patrol for rescuing me. Thanks to Bobby for paddling out and bringing me in and to the other lifeguards for the medical assessment. You guys are true professionals and take the job seriously.