Skim Boarder Makes a Miracle Save.

Here's a heart warming story about life saving in Aliso Beach published in Laguna Beach News. As shown in the above picture, the hero, Pat Watch on the left, holding a baby he just rescued.  According to the report by Andrea Adelson:

Quick action by a skim boarder saved the life of an infant pulled into a rip tide by a rogue wave on Saturday at Aliso Beach, according to witnesses.

Pat Watson, 46, who took up skim boarding after moving from Hawaii in 1991, said he threw his board aside and took off in a dead sprint when he saw a child tumbling down the sand berm into swirling whitewater. “I couldn’t see anyone else moving,” said Watson, who was skimming with his son, Danny, 18. They both “bolted” for the child.

“I was on it,” Watson said. He figures he covered 75 yards before diving into the surf, even though he had yet to see the child resurface. Incredibly, Watson caught sight of her underwater and grabbed her diaper. “I knew she’d been under water at least 15 seconds,” said Watson, who held the baby up overhead while still trying to get his footing before another wave overtook them.

When he resurfaced again, holding the child like a football to his chest, Watson said she wasn’t moving. “I flipped her over,” he said, flooded with relief when she began to cough, vomit up seawater and cry. He placed the child in the outstretched arms of the trembling, unidentified mother, who left the beach before speaking to authorities, Watson said.

“It’s a phenomenal rescue,” said Jason Young, chief of OC Lifeguards, responsible for guarding Aliso, one of the county’s most popular beaches. “Once a human submerges, there’s a very low chance of saving them,” Young said.

At the time of the rescue prior to noon, county guards were not yet scheduled for duty in Aliso’s towers, Young said, though one guard in a vehicle was roving between Aliso and Three Arch Bay beaches. Laguna’s five southern beach coves are county beaches.

It is always gratifying to read a story like this one.  The editor gave the article a nice headline: "Skim Boarder Makes a Miracle Save."  And the article concludes with this aftermath:

Later, Watson’s daughter told him she had observed the incident’s origin, seeing a rogue wave sweep the beach and swamp the mother, wearing street clothes and walking near the top of the sand berm, who twice attempted to grab the child before she tumbled into the surf.

Other than skimmers, few people were in the water because of the strong surf, Watson said.

So it all started with a freaque wave sweep the beach. It was a local happening, but great rescue story nevertheless -- and for believers it's a miracle indeed there are God's fingerprints all over it!