Teen boy drowns at Crissy Field
“They tried to rescue him and when they realized they could not, they immediately called 911 and the family.”
The fire department and U.S. Coast Guard were at the scene within 10 minutes, according to witnesses. They cleared the water and closed off the beach, but that didn’t stop dozens of sun worshippers from lining the shore as would-be rescuers searched for the boy, whose distraught family rushed to the area to help.
A fireman with binoculars stood on top of an extended fire truck ladder scanning the water as rescuers on watercraft with trailing sleds and speed boats combed the shallows, and the looming Golden Gate Bridge gleamed in the sunshine.
At 3:20 p.m., divers found the victim about 25 yards out in deep water and pulled him ashore. Paramedics put a breathing tube down his throat and administered CPR as they rushed him to the hospital. He was pronounced dead at California Pacific Medical Center.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I thought it was a shark,” said Timo Norris, 49, who lives in Cow Hollow and was riding by on his bicycle when emergency crews arrived.
Within an hour after the ambulance drove away, sunbathers were again stretched languidly in the sand, kids were wading into the water, and sail boats and kite surfers were slicing through the deep blue water offshore.
“There is a significant drop off and he must not have seen it, went down and panicked,” said Richard Ligon, 58, a regular at Crissy Field who was there for the confusion, but did not see the boy go under. “If they had a lifeguard on duty, he’d still be alive.”
Dishani Shah, 27, who was visiting from Michigan, started her day enthralled by beautiful San Francisco and, after witnessing the rescue attempt, ended her day pondering how quickly tragedy can change everything.
“No water is safe to swim when a lifeguard is not on duty,” she said. “People should be cautious, especially if they don’t know how to swim.”
Other beachgoers also complained that there were no lifeguards, but Baxter pointed out that Crissy Field is often windy and cold and on most days is not a popular swimming beach, except with ball-chasing dogs. He said Stinson Beach is the closest beach with lifeguards, and that is where people are encouraged to swim.
“The family is responding the way any of us would if we were in this situation,” Baxter said of the grief-stricken relatives. “What occurred here is a tragedy.”