'I Couldn't Let Her Drown:' Fisherman Saves Girl At Island Beach

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ — A fisherman who told authorities he wasn't a strong swimmer is being hailed as a hero after he rescued a teenage girl who was pulled out from the shore.

"I couldn't let her drown," the fisherman told authorities, who highlighted the rescue with a warning: Don't swim where there are no lifeguards.

The incident happened Friday morning at the southern tip of Island Beach State Park, according to officials in Seaside Heights, who wrote about the rescue on the borough's Facebook page.

The teen had gone into the ocean in an area of the park near the north side of Barnegat Inlet in an area that's popular with fishermen and soon found herself about 30 yards offshore and in distress, officials said. Surf conditions were rough at the time, officials said.

"While volunteer fire department ocean rescue teams were en route, a fisherman saw the teenager in distress," officials said. The fisherman grabbed his personal flotation device from his truck, put it on and went in the water.

"He reached the girl and held her head above water until IBSP lifeguards reached the scene from miles away and completed the rescue of the girl and fisherman," officials said.

"Later, on shore, the fisherman admitted that he isn't a strong swimmer, but said, 'I couldn't let her drown,' " the account said.

Island Beach State Park is 10 miles long, and it's about 7 miles from the guarded bathing beach to the southern tip at Barnegat Inlet.

"The fisherman is a hero," officials wrote. "And the teenager, quite frankly, is lucky to be alive."

Officials said the incident is a reminder of why it's important to stay out of the ocean whenever lifeguards are not on duty and to swim only at designated swimming beaches.

The teenager's swim "could have ended in tragedy, not only for her but also for the fisherman rescuer and first responders that were called to the scene who are at risk from the minute they get the emergency alert," officials said. "Stay out, stay alive."

The fisherman was not identified, and authorities did not give the girl's age or hometown.

Firefighters from Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and members of the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad responded.

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