MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A kitesurfer raced to rescue a swimmer struggling in the water off Miami Beach after she got caught up in a rip current.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, the good Samaritan, who identified himself as Daniel, described the moment he saw the victim earlier this week.
“I was right next to her, looking at her and seeing the struggle. She was, like, done. She was going to die,” he said.
Daniel also ended up providing an unexpected aerial assist to two lifeguards who went into the rough waters.
Someone recorded the rescue from up above at a nearby condo.
“Right in front of the lifeguard tower, there was a rip current. She must have gotten stuck in the rip urrent and couldn’t come back,” said Daniel. “The Ocean Rescue [lifeguards], they went in, and it was rough for them, too.”
At first, the rip current kept the two lifeguards out in the water as they tried to reach the woman and bring her to safety.
That’s when Daniel swooped in. The video showed the moment he touched down on the water and was eventually got the swimmer and the lifeguards to hang on.
“They grabbed ahold of me, and I pulled them right in. I pulled them right in with the kite,” he said.
Using a technique he said the kite surfing community calls body dragging or “supermanning,” he slowly started to drag them back to land.
After about four minutes of waves washing over them and inching closer to the sand, Daniel completed the rescue.
Another lifeguard, he said, floated out to grab his board.
Daniel said it’s not the first time a kitesurfer has lent a helping hand in a risky situation, and he would happily do it again.
“Even rough conditions like that, if Ocean Rescue can’t really even save them, ’cause it’s a rough condition, a kiter with a kite can easily just pull them out,” said Daniel.
Daniel said that when everyone reached back to shore, they all seemed OK.
7News was told that no one had to be taken to the hospital.
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