Photo: Yoshiyoshi Hirokawa / DigitalVision / Getty Images
New Smyrna Beach, FL - A 72-year-old surfer rescued a father and son who were struggling in strong currents at New Smyrna Beach.
David "Bean" Coffee, who has been surfing since 1965, said he went out near Marianne Clancy Park on August 26th.
When he arrived, other surfers left, and shortly afterward, Coffee heard two people yelling for help about half a football field away.
Coffee first reached the younger man, a man in his 20s, who had lost his surfboard and was struggling to stay afloat.
“I grabbed his hair and pulled him up, then laid him on the side of my surfboard,” Coffee told FOX 35 Orlando.
He paddled the son to shore, then returned to assist the father. Both men were tired but unharmed.
Volusia County deputies responded, but neither man required medical attention.
Coffee said the men expressed their gratitude before he left for a doctor’s appointment.
He did not exchange contact information, and both men were visiting from out of town.
Neither the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office nor Volusia County Beach Safety filed a report on the incident, so the names of the rescued men are not known.
Coffee advised surfers to exercise caution and not enter the water without lifeguards present.