MONTEREY, California (25 Nov 2006) -- In a tragic coincidence, two men died during the Thanksgiving holidays in unrelated Monterey County diving accidents after both men's teenage sons tried to rescue them. In the first incident, a Bay Area man died after diving near Point Lobos State Park about 11 a.m. Thursday, state parks officials said. The 50-year-old man was diving with his 17-year-old son when he suffered a medical emergency in the water, said Loren Rex, supervising ranger for California State Parks. The accident took place near Whaler's Cove in choppy seas, he said. "It was a pretty rough day out there," Rex said. The man's son had tried to pull him from the water but wasn't able to, he said. "His son had to swim in and call 911," he said. State parks rangers and lifeguards, along with California Department of Forestry firefighters and sheriff's deputies, responded to the scene. Rescuers pulled the man from the water and tried to revive him, Rex said. An ambulance took the man to a local hospital, where he died, Rex said. On Friday afternoon, a 36-year-old Capitola resident was pulled from Monterey Bay by his 15-year-old son, Monterey police Sgt. Frank Russo said. About 4:40 p.m., emergency crews were summoned to San Carlos Beach near the Coast Guard Pier in Monterey, where the boy lay exhausted on the sand. | | Firefighters arrived within three minutes of the distress call, said Monterey Fire Capt. Barry Perkins. Coast Guard rescuers were on the scene applying CPR. "At one point, we pulled the patient farther up the beach because the water was coming in," Perkins said. Rescue workers said the boy had struggled to the point of exhaustion pulling his father to the beach. "He did a really good job, too," Russo said. But by 5:20 p.m., Russo said, the man was declared dead upon arrival at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Reports from the Monterey county coroner as to exact causes of death are pending in both cases. SOURCE - The Mercury NewsSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
