Jan

14

Near Drowning Raises Awareness of Need for Water Safety

January 14, 2008 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters | 2 Comments

Banana Azul Employees at Playa Negra
Alfredo, Agustin and Giovani on Playa Negra; the Banana Azul employees who heroically risked their own lives to save the lives of two guests who were drowning.

A frightening incident on January 7th near the end of our spate of stormy weather highlighted the need for everyone visiting Puerto Viejo to be aware of water safety issues and check with locals about the conditions before swimming.

A tourist was swimming on Playa Negra in front of Hotel Banana Azul and realized that the current was dragging him out and he couldn’t get back in to the beach. His girlfriend ran back to the hotel for help and Agustin left the front desk to run and help. He brought a boogie board into the water, swam out to the man and gave it to him and he managed to get in.

But another tourist had joined the rescue effort; he had also paddled out with a boogie board but was now unable to paddle back in. Agustin swam over to him and tried to calm the man down who was certain he was going to die but he was still unable to make any progress. Giovani joined them in the water with another boogie board and they gave the man this and attempted to get him in still with no luck. Then a wave crashed on the second man who then lost his boogie board. Meanwhile they could feel the current dragging them out and started to worry for their own safety.

Finally, Alfredo joined the fray with a surfboard strapped to his ankle. The three of them managed to get the man onto the surfboard and together they managed to paddle him in after much effort. The whole incident lasted about 45 terrifying minutes. The man lay on the beach utterly exhausted for an hour before he was able to move.

Unfortunately our beaches in Puerto Viejo do not have lifeguards (with the exception of Playa Cocles which has a lifeguard paid for by local businesses) so it is your responsibility to ask about local conditions before you get in the water. Thankfully these men were not swimming alone and so their plight was noticed.

Kudos to all those involved for putting their own lives at risk to save another. We are so thankful it turned out as it did.