You may have already seen photos or video of Brandon Tighe from the monstrous swell that hit New Jersey last winter. One clip of him going fully airborne went viral, and he even made a brief appearance in our own photo coverage of the event. However, last week Tighe performed a very different type of water heroics, by rescuing an ailing New Jersey swimmer while surfing at Avon-by-the-Sea April 29.
“Three minutes into my session at a wave I never surf, I heard someone screaming for help significantly far from me,” Recounted Tighe on a post to his Instagram. “I paddled 200 yards out and over from the jetty I was surfing to a nearly unconscious/hypothermic man floating on his back. He was drifting out to sea without a wetsuit and not swimming.”
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From there he went on to describe the rescue in detail, both as a warning to local swimmers and instruction for any surfers who may end up rescuing them. “Knowing he was frantic/near unconsciousness, I put space between him and myself. This was to create distance and avoid being pulled under by an adrenaline fueled drowning victim,” Tighe continued. “I detached my leash and swam my board into his arms, remaining 5 feet away and keeping my board between us. I helped him hold my board perpendicular to his body to keep space and allow him to rest, but because of the water temperature his body was not regulating. After swimming/pulling the board and him in, keeping the space, we were caught in the same (minimal) high tide rip that pulled him out in the first place.”
At that point, Tighe placed the man prone on his board and pushed him in from behind. Once they were safely ashore, Belmar EMS, Police & the USCG took over and Brandon left, presumably to return to his regularly scheduled programming of launching off of 20-foot east-coast bombs.
“Surfers: it may not be our responsibility to be lifeguards, but having the skill and being in the right place at the right time can save someone’s life,” he concluded.
