Alex, left, and Casey. Photo: Kevin Flaherty//Courtesy Flaherty family.
September on the New Jersey Shore is often referred to as the “local’s summer,” as tourists leave for the season. But that doesn’t mean people don’t get in trouble in the surf – especially this year. As of September 19th, the East Coast has seen 14 named storms and six hurricanes. All that action has created some great surf. And of course strong rip currents, which apparently caught one elderly couple off guard last week near 11th Avenue in Belmar, New Jersey.
“I would say they were at least 25 yards out; if not more. I’ve been a lifeguard so I know what it looks like when it’s ‘This isn’t fun, I need help.’ I was on the phone with my mom and I was like, ‘I think we need to save these people,’” said 21-year old Casey Flaherty, who along with her boyfriend Alex Rosenthal, grabbed surfboards to paddle out to help the couple. “I saw two guys going out (without boards) and then they seemed to get caught in the rip, too.”
Flaherty says she thinks the couple was in their 70s and Russian, making communication tough. “The woman said go help my husband,” Flaherty says. “His eyes were closed; I thought he was unconscious. They did not speak any English; he also could not even get words out. I said, ‘we need to get this guy in because he is going to go into cardiac arrest any minute now.’”
Flaherty, a surf instructor, and Rosenthal, who’s from Santa Cruz and can certainly handle himself on a surfboard, were able to paddle and push the couple to shore. The paramedics had already been called and were waiting on the beach. It’s not entirely clear how the elderly couple ended up in the water other than it was apparently windless, making for a glassy ocean surface, which may have seemed inviting at first.
“We got to the sand and that’s when he kissed me on the cheek and said thank you for saving my life,” Flaherty said.
