Lifeguards Save 12 From Ocean In Late-Day Rescue In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It was late in the afternoon Saturday, E.C. Peters said, when things suddenly went sideways in Chadwick Beach: A group of girls were being pulled out into the ocean, and they were in trouble.

"We were starting to pack up for the day," Peters said Monday evening as he recounted the events of Saturday in Chadwick Beach, where he is captain of the beach patrol that rescued 12 girls from the ocean after they got caught in deeper water.

"It wasn't a rescue here and there, it was all at once," Peters said.

It was about 4:15 p.m. when Bobby Irwin, who was on the main stand, saw three girls struggling in the water and ran to help, Peters said.

As Irwin ran, joined by other guards, all of a sudden there were more girls in trouble. A small rescue had grown exponentially, and it was all hands on deck working to get everyone in, Peters said.

The surf had not been particularly rough on Saturday, he said. But there's a sandbar where the girls, all teenagers, had been standing. It's a spot that can catch people off-guard.

"The sandbar has a dip in it," Peters said, and quickly goes from knee-deep water to 8 feet deep, "and then you're getting pulled out."

"People panic," he said.

The lifeguards went right into action, Peters said, as they have trained for dozens of times. Some grabbed rescue boards and torpedoes. Some grabbed rescue lines for guards to grab as they brought girls back to shore. One guard, who was not working but was surfing nearby, ran to help as well, Peters said.

"None of them hesitated," he said.

Guards from neighboring Silver Beach joined in to help, manning the Chadwick Beach stands to keep watch over other swimmers while nearly all of the Chadwick guards focused on the rescue.

"One of our retired lifeguards jumped in to help, and there was a father helping, too," Peters said.

The guards — Bobby Irwin, Lt. Sean Frew, Desai Gliddon, Luke Hewlitt, Kerry Perna, Dan Brodeur, Nick Herkins, Matt Schwartz, Sean O'Callahan and Grace Fehrnstrom — got all 12 girls back to shore with no serious injuries.

The three who were sucked out first — "They were in serious straits," Peters said — were pretty shaken up, and they made sure to get blankets and towels around them to help warm up.

"We train every day," Peters said.