Three pulled from ocean

Laguna Beach lifeguards and firefighters were kept busy on Saturday.

The treacherous Giggle Crack at Diver’s Cove nearly proved fatal for a teenager and her would-be rescuers on Saturday afternoon, and a possible missing swimmer brought out a dive team, helicopters and multiple agency response near Emerald Bay around 7 p.m.

A 17-year-old girl who could not swim was swept into the notorious Giggle Crack by a large wave around 3 p.m. The wave action flushed her out of the crack and into the ocean, said Marine Safety Capt. Tom Trager.

A man jumped in after her but could not bring the girl to safety and ended up clinging to the rocks for dear life, Trager said.

A second Good Samaritan then jumped into the water to help the girl, and was able to keep her from being swept under until a lifeguard arrived and brought both back to shore. The first Good Samaritan was then rescued by a second lifeguard.

The girl and the first Good Samaritan — both of whom reportedly nearly drowned — were taken to South Coast Medical Center for treatment, Trager said. The second Samaritan, identified as 42-year-old Mike Gillette, did not require treatment.

Travis Lowry, a recurrent hourly lifeguard, and Joshua Bynum, a Marine Safety Officer, rescued the three.

The incident was eerily similar to a decade-old double drowning at the same place.

It was one day shy of 11 years to the day that a Mother’s Day mishap at the Giggle Crack took the lives of a mother and her boyfriend who were similarly trying to save a child who fell into the crack, Trager noted. That was on May 10, 1998. This year, Mothers’ Day also fell on May 10.

Mother’s Day weekend attracts many visitors to Laguna Beach at a time when the water is warming, but the city’s squadrons of summer lifeguards are not on duty.

“There was no lifeguard in the tower at Diver’s Cove during either incident,” Trager said of the 1998 and 2009 mishaps.

Missing swimmer reported

In the second incident of the day, someone called around 7 p.m. to report a swimmer with a head injury off Emerald Bay, Trager said. Firefighters responded and also called all-out alert for lifeguards, who speeded to the scene. The Harbor Patrol, a dive team and two helicopters searched for the victim through nearby coves for about an hour, but found no one, Trager said.

Finally, the person who had originally called for a rescue team was located; he said the person who had been injured had evidently been able to drive himself to a local hospital. This report was verified by authorities who called area hospitals and learned that a head injury victim had driven himself to the hospital for treatment.

CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be contacted at (949) 380-4321 or [email protected].