A 19-year-old girl was released from the hospital on Thursday, one day after a Good Samaritan and a NYPD School Safety officer rescued her from drowning off the Coney Island beach, officials say.
“She was discharged from the hospital this morning – they saved her life,” said Coney Island Councilman Mark Treyger. “I want to publicly acknowledge school safety, precinct police, EMS and the Good Samaritan after this girl went into the water in an unauthorized area where she was going to drown.”
The 19-year-old Bronx girl, whose name has not been released, waded into the waters off the beach by Ocean Parkway at around 4 pm Wednesday and was quickly swept out to sea, according to onlooker Mike Perez.
“At first she took off her pants and was walking on the beach without pants and just wearing a jacket, but then she went into the water – she looked like she was splashing and playing and people were watching,” said Perez, an artist and bartender who is unemployed because of the coronavirus outbreak. “Then, I wasn’t paying attention to her for a moment and she was gone.”
Perez called 911 and ran along the rock jetty until he saw the victim’s foot, jumped in, and brought her to shore with the help of a school safety officer, Anthony Baisden, who was on his third day patrolling the beach.
First responders on the beach performed CPR on the woman until they found a heartbeat before an ambulance rushed her to Coney Island Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Treyger commended the hospital for its diligent care that helped save the woman’s life.
“I want to publicly acknowledge … Coney Island Hospital who did a great job – just amazing work by emergency workers who are working so hard during this pandemic,” he said.
Cuomo announced on May 15 that he will allow local governments to open their beaches by Memorial Day weekend at a reduced capacity if they so chose, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said that New York City’s beaches will remain closed.
“That’s not in the cards right now,” de Blasio said on Friday during a press briefing.
This story first appeared on AMNY.com.
