Brick Teen Lifeguards Save Child's Life In Jamaica

BRICK, NJ — Liam Rea was floating on a tube, relaxing in the sun, enjoying his spring break in Jamaica when something caught his eye: a guy climbing up a large inflatable iceberg, clearly unsteady.

Liam's brother, Sean, was floating nearby, and saw the man slipping as he climbed. And then the man fell. On the way down, he hit a father and two boys and knocked them off the side.

"I saw him fall and then I heard 'Help! Help! Help!' " Sean, 17, said. "As soon as I saw him fall, I saw him hit the kid’s head," said Liam, 19.

What they both saw next would frighten most people: the boy, face-down in the water, unconscious. And before you could call their names, the brothers who are lifeguards in Brick Township jumped into action and saved the boy's life.

Jeff Batt, a Brick resident and captain in the Jersey City Fire Department, wrote an account of the brothers' heroics that his wife, Donna, posted on Patch Monday.

"I witness things every day and once in a while you find those selfless people that would help in any situation," Jeff Batt said. "I would like to recognize Liam and Sean Rea for their selfless act in a tough situation."

The Batts and the Reas were vacationing in Montego Bay, Jamaica, over spring break, when the incident happened on April 7 at an attraction called Margaritaville. The attraction includes an inflatable water park with a variety of floats, from tubes to a giant trampoline to a giant inflatable iceberg with ledges that people can jump from into the water.

The water in the area is very deep, said Jim Rea, the boys' father, and it's away from the shore, about 100 yards out. The water park has a carefree vibe, the kind you expect to have on vacation.

But as the man fell from the top of the iceberg, hitting the father and his two sons and knocking them into the water, Jeff Batt said, the vibe changed in a split second.

"I saw the person fall off the top but people were falling off the top all day," said Kim Rea, the boys' mother. "All of a sudden my husband was signaling for me to call 911."

"The father was trying to get up and he was right next to me, he was kind of out of it," Jim Rea said. As the father was trying to get his wits about him, Jim Rea saw the man's son floating in the water. "I turned to call for Liam and he was already in mid-dive."

Sean, too, was leaping from the float to help.

"It was like watching a scene from a movie," Jim Rea said of watching his sons spring into action. "It was surreal."

The brothers work for the Brick Township Recreation Department, part of the township's cadre of guards who spend the summer days ensuring the safety of those who come to Brick's ocean beaches. Liam is a freshman at Stockton University. Sean is a junior at Brick Township High School.

"We train for an hour a day every day before work," Sean said. The lifeguards practice CPR and rehearse their first aid techniques, their spinal supports, and water rescues. "It's a lot of training," Liam said, and not everyone who sets out to be a lifeguard in Brick sticks with it, because the training can be grueling.

"I did it because I wanted to help people. Plus my friends were doing it," said Liam, who's heading into his fourth summer as a lifeguard at the beach. Sean, who worked as a lifeguard at a pool when he was 15 before joining the Brick ocean lifeguards the following year at 16, said he did it in part because of his big brother's influence.

"Donovan Brown (the head of Brick's lifeguard crew) is a serious guy," Jim Rea said. "He’s like a boot camp instructor with these kids, but you want them at their best. They train hard."

And all that training kicked in without a second thought, the brothers said — which is the goal of training for emergencies, so those responding know exactly what to do when every second counts.

In Jamaica, every second counted. Liam reached the boy and immediately turned him over so he wouldn't inhale water. Sean helped stabilize the boy's neck in case he had suffered a spinal injury when he hit the water unconscious.

"They really took control," Jim Rea said.

Jeff Batt said he asked what was needed and Liam said they needed help swimming the boy to the dock 100 yards away.

"The Jamaican lifeguards met us about halfway," Liam said, and put the boy, who had regained consciousness, on a backboard to remove him from the water safely.

Jeff Batt said the boy was combative at first and confused, but "Liam and Sean talked to the patient, letting him know he was safe and calmed him down." They made sure the boy's head was properly braced and that he ws secured to the backboard before the boy was lifted from the water.

Neither brother had ever experienced a situation that was so serious.

"I've had a couple of minor situations, but nothing like this," Liam said.

"I've been on water saves, swimming next to someone (back to shore) but nothing like someone unconscious, floating there," Sean said.

Kim Rea, Liam and Sean's mother, choked up when she talked about how proud she is of her sons' rescue.

"It was amazing to see them spring into action so quickly," she said. "They were able to go from party mode to lifesaving mode in a split-second."

"We get pretty emotional just thinking about it," Jim Rea said, "but I’m really proud too."

"I was just thankful nothing worse happened and that we were able to help that kid," Sean said. "I'm glad we were in the right place at the right time."

"Both Sean and Liam showed coolness under pressure and exemplified what it means to be a lifeguard. Brick should be very proud of these two," Jeff Batt wrote.

Photos of the rescue by Donna Batt, photos of Liam and Sean provided by Liam Rea from their vacation, published with permission