BODYBOARDER NEARLY DROWNS AT PIPELINE Guilherme Tamega and Jamie O'Brien jump in to find the unconscious charger "purple and pretty much dead" By Dashel Pierson

Published: March 4, 2016

March 4, 2016 Views: 4,059







BODYBOARDER NEARLY DROWNS AT PIPELINE Guilherme Tamega and Jamie O'Brien jump in to find the unconscious charger "purple and pretty much dead".





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Related WARNING: GRAPHIC. The footage shows what seems like a fairly harmless wave, by Pipeline standards, quickly turning ugly for New Jersey bodyboarder Dylan McGinn. Luckily for him, Guilherme Tamega and Jamie O’Brien make a harrowing rescue. Video: João Ricardo



Pipeline showed her teeth again on Thursday.



“He was purple,” Tamega said, “a big bruise on his head. But together, we saved that guy's life.”



We caught up with O’Brien, still reeling from the experience, to find out what exactly went down:



I was just checking the waves, deciding if we were going to surf or not, when we saw this bodyboarder get a wave at Pipe. It was only like a five-footer. It was kind of a hollow one, but you wouldn’t expect something like that to happen. Then these guys who were re-roofing the Volcom House started yelling that someone was down, someone was drowning. I got the chills. I ran into my yard, grabbed a Catch Surf board and just jetted out there.



I got to Tamega and he was just on the inside of Gums. There was this big rip bowl. Tamega was winded already, and he’s a lifeguard and professional bodyboarder. We got him on the board, then 30 seconds later a big backwash blew the guy off the board. After that it was a pretty good system and the lifeguards got there.



We got him to the beach and they started CPR. On the second cycle of CPR, they got a pulse. I was just so happy because when we got to him he was purple. He was pretty much dead.



It’s been a crazy year. There have been so many close calls.



This rescue was just one in a long line of vicious, injury-inducing wipeouts plaguing the North Shore this season. From



Aside from the looming cloud over this season’s near-casualties, on the brighter side, this just shows surfers coming together in the name of safety and humanity. “I was so stoked when they got a pulse on him,” O’Brien finished. “I would want people to do the same for me if I was in that situation.”



And speaking of doing the same for other people, friends of Dylan have set up a GoFundMe page to help with ongoing medical expenses. Those interested in making a donation are encouraged to do so







I was just checking the waves, deciding if we were going to surf or not, when we saw this bodyboarder get a wave at Pipe. It was only like a five-footer. It was kind of a hollow one, but you wouldn’t expect something like that to happen. Then these guys who were re-roofing the Volcom House started yelling that someone was down, someone was drowning. I got the chills. I ran into my yard, grabbed a Catch Surf board and just jetted out there.This rescue was just one in a long line of vicious, injury-inducing wipeouts plaguing the North Shore this season. From Evan Geiselman to Owen Wright to Bede Durbidge and more, the El Niño-fueled carnage has been painfully profound -- so much so that the North Shore Lifeguards are campaigning for more funding for longer shifts. After all, people don’t stop drowning outside the hours of a 9-to-5 workday.Aside from the looming cloud over this season’s near-casualties, on the brighter side, this just shows surfers coming together in the name of safety and humanity. “I was so stoked when they got a pulse on him,” O’Brien finished. “I would want people to do the same for me if I was in that situation.”And speaking of doing the same for other people, friends of Dylan have set up a GoFundMe page to help with ongoing medical expenses. Those interested in making a donation are encouraged to do so here

And this time, an unlucky bodyboarder felt the brunt of her bite. Dylan McGinn of New Jersey pulled into a classic Banzai drainer on the inside bowl – but when the wave closed out, McGinn hit the reef, rendering him unconscious and without a pulse.First to the rescue was six-time bodyboard World Champ and off-duty lifeguard, Guilherme Tamega, who kept McGinn’s head above water as he lugged him through the impact zone. Then Jamie O’Brien rushed to Tamega’s aid with a CatchSurf soft-top, which acted as a perfect makeshift nautical stretcher.Once on shore, Tamega and a group of North Shore Lifeguards administered CPR, which eventuallygot McGinn breathing on his own. From there he was rushed to the hospital where he arrivedin serious condition, reports Hawaii News Now