Lifeguard, 17, puts training to use to save swimmer
The riptides on Sunday along Northeast Florida's coastline were so powerful that lifeguard Marie-Gabrielle Porter decided beach-goers on her stretch of Jacksonville Beach sand could only venture out waist-deep.
As she scanned the horizon, she labeled several of the swimmers as red flags, but a nearby woman never even landed on her radar. That changed when four men dragged the unconscious woman out of the surf.
She grabbed her buoy, rushing to the woman's side. A man in the crowd had already started doing compressions, but Porter, 17, ushered him away.
Even though the woman was gasping for air, Porter could not feel a pulse. Instantly, she knew the woman could die if she did not get her air soon. Without thinking, Porter started to perform mouth-to-mouth, every so often titling the woman on her side so she could cough up saltwater.
It was Porter's first rescue and resuscitation.
"Most lifeguarding is preventative," said Porter, a member of the American Red Cross Volunteer Lifesaving Corps. "We have rescuers' safety, so I had a choice whether or not I wanted to give mouth-to-mouth without a resuscitation device. But, I felt it was necessary."
Eventually, rescue arrived and carried the woman away. Porter returned to her tower, shaken. She said afterward, though, the public was extremely complimentary. She received three bottles of water and an apple from concerned citizens.
"I'm so glad I did my part," she added. "It really helps to bring home our intense training and what we are doing here. When it happened, I just went on autopilot. There was no question about what needed to be done."
The rescue, one of many performed over the weekend (see Week In Review, Page 3), comes in the wake of two beach disappearances on Saturday and Sunday off Little Talbot Island, as reported in Tuesday's Times-Union. A man disappeared in the surf about 7 p.m. on Sunday, and an 11-year-old boy went missing in the same area on Saturday. Police and rescue officials were unable to locate either individual. On Sunday alone, the lifeguard station at 12th Avenue North experienced four rescues in three hours.
Though Porter did not expect the day's occurrences, she said she and the guard were prepared. Approximately 50 lifeguards were on duty in the Beaches area throughout Memorial Day weekend.
Authorities had warned of strong rip currents throughout the weekend. A rip current is a swift moving channel of water that runs away from the beach in breaks between sand bars. Rip currents, if powerful enough, can knock a swimmer off their feet and drag them out to sea.
Porter, who joined the Corps in April 2014, is the third in her family to do so. Her older sisters, Anna and Eva, were also members, but have since aged-out. Anna, a five-year Corps veteran, experienced her first rescue as a result of a swimmer suffering anaphylactic shock. Eva, who served for four years, never had to rescue anyone.
"What happened is out of the norm," Porter said. "When it is bad, I usually don't let people out too deep."
She will graduate from Fletcher High School next summer, but has not yet decided where she wants to attend college. Her future at the Corps will depend on whether or not she stays in the area.
Amanda Williamson: (904) 359-4665
