Cranford Surfer Saves Struggling Teen From Rip Current

CRANFORD, NJ - The first Sunday of September proved to be more exciting than Bill Thompson had planned, as the 48-year-old surfer from Cranford wound up saving a struggling teenager off the shore in Long Beach Township.

While Thompson spends a good portion of his summer in Long Beach, where he maintains a summer home, it was mostly chance that had him on the beach in the right moment. Chance, and a 15-year-old daughter who wanted to surf because it was her last day of summer before heading back home to Cranford.

"The waves that day were big, but choppy and closing out, far from ideal conditions," Thompson noted.

Indeed, the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol had posted warnings on Sept. 1 about the conditions, noting that BTBP Ocean Lifeguards and Officers were executing a high number of rescues due to moderately high surf and strong rip currents. They also strongly encouraged all swimmers, for their safety, to swim on a guarded beach.
Where Thompson was, was an unguarded beach.

Thompson said his daughter gave up on surfing early, because the conditions were making her nervous. So she got out of the water and joined some friends who were swimming just off the beach directly inside from where he was surfing. Included in that group, was 19-year-old man who had rented a house nearby with his family.

"I was keeping an eye on the group just out of habit and noticed they began drift down the beach. At the same time I noticed a friend of mine and his wife walking fast towards the water and pointing into the water and then another friend's son go running down the beach to the closest lifeguard stand," Thompson said. "At the same time about 50 yards down I saw a huge rip-current pushing out and a few heads going out with it."
Thompson said that the one teen boy had been swept away from his daughter and her friends.

"Seeing all this commotion happen within just a few seconds I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but I knew I had better get over there. I began to paddle as fast as I could towards the people and into the rip," he told Patch.

Thompson said that as he approached the group, he saw four men, including the teen getting pulled out with teen sideways on a body board that one of the other men had and he was struggling.

"(He) was in a full on panic. He was having trouble staying on the board. The men were tired from trying to swim (him) and themselves in against the rip current with no success, they were still going out," Thompson said. "The first thing I did was talk to him and try to calm him down. I told him not to worry, we would definitely get back to beach."
Thompson said that he tried to paddle and pull them out the rip to the side, but the rip was too wide and powerful.

"I have been in many rip currents while surfing and this one was by far the most powerful," he said. "I then decided to paddle/pull them all out further to clear the rip and get into clean calm water. Once we were out of the rip everyone calmed down, but we were now very far out. I kept telling them to relax, we were all floating safe, and now just wait for the guards who were all arriving on the beach."
While everyone was safe, the ordeal wasn't over just yet. They still needed to get back to shore.

"The first few guards that got to us only had buoys. They helped everyone float together. Shortly after two more lifeguards arrived with paddle boards. Jake got on one and everyone began working their way in. I paddled in alongside the others making sure they were ok," Thompson said. "The guards who simply swam out with their buoys were tired and I didn’t want to get too far from anyone. Getting through the impact zone was tricky, but we all made it through and got to the beach where by now hundreds of people were gathered."

The call for help triggered a reaction not only from the Beach Patrol, but from the Long Beach Police Department, who dispatched EMS to check on everyone.

"We all got out of the water to applause and I gave my info to the cops and lifeguards. I knelt down by him as he was taking in some oxygen and told him that he did a great job. I hugged and kissed my family and made my way back to my beach chair talking to friends and neighbors along the way," Thompson said. "As took in the full on beach rescue scene I realized what had happened. It was surreal and intense. I was simply in the right place at the right time."
Coincidentally, the teenager’s family was renting a house across from Thompson. After everyone was cleared by EMS and had left the beach, Thompson went over to talk to the family and have a beer.

"His family was very appreciative that I was there," Thompson said.

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