The Inertia for Good Editor
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Sometime between trips to the Wawa. Photo: Instagram


The Inertia

New Jersey surfer and nursing student Cooper Lysinger had a fun day Sunday. Eventful, but fun, according to the 18 year old.

“Surfed 4 times, went to Wawa 4 times, and completed approximately 4 statistics questions,” he said. While four Wawa runs makes that one of the most Jersey days a Jersey surfer can have, at least one of those four surf sessions had to have stood out more than the rest. While participating in a local boardriders event that day called the “Battle at the Jetty,” Lysinger was part of a small crew that ditched their heat to save a fisherman in distress nearby. The man had been fishing from the Avalon beach jetty when a large wave knocked him into the impact zone.

According to Avalon Beach Patrol, 172 rescues have been made over the past two years in that immediate area but beach patrol is off-duty during this time of year. For Lysinger, who was first to arrive at the man as he struggled in the surf, the experience reinforced his decision to pursue a career in health care.

“There’s nothing like it. After you save somebody you get this feeling of satisfaction,” he told ABC. “I just saved a life today. I really made a difference in my life, in somebody else’s life.”

 
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