In early February, Austin Gibbons, a 25-year-old surfer from New York, suffered a wipeout while surfing Pipeline that almost killed him.
Surfers got him to shore, where lifeguards administered “several cycles of CPR before he finally regained a pulse.” Gibbons was then hospitalized in critical condition, unconscious for days.
A month later, Gibbons and his mother paid a visit to Pipe to thank his heroes for saving his life.
Related: Watch: Aussie Expat Dies Suddenly Surfing Popular Indonesian Surf Spot
Captioning the video above, Hawaii News Now (HNN) wrote:
“It’s been nearly a year since extended hours went into effect for O’ahu’s North Shore lifeguards.”
According to the video, those extended hours “literally made the difference between life and death” for Gibbons, who was brought to shore minutes after lifeguards went off duty.
Gibbons says he endured a two-wave hold down before losing consciousness.
“Experienced surfers Lucas Godfrey and Eala Stewart quickly rushed over and brought him to shore where lifeguards who just went off duty literally minutes before performed CPR,” reporter Mark Carpenter said.
Veteran North Shore lifeguard Dave Wassel calls them “true heroes.”
“To be able to hold onto an unconscious body full of water in ten-foot local-scale surf is impossible. I have no idea how Lucas Godfrey was able to hold onto his body but he did, and because of that, he’s here with us today,” Wassel told HNN.
Austin’s mother, Christine Gibbons, flew from New York to Oahu as soon as she heard of the wipeout, and remained by Austin’s side.
“Watching the video, it was amazing to see what everybody did for my son,” she said.
According to Newsday, Gibbons moved to Hawaii a month before the accident “to pursue his dream of becoming an Oahu lifeguard and had performed ‘very well’ on the lifeguard test.”
“I just wanted to hug these guys and thank them for my life, for my family. It’s hard for me to even put words to it,” Austin said in the video. “But being able to squeeze these guys and look them in the eyes and truly thank them is something I’ve been waiting to do for a while.
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