Young man from Oxnard lauded as hero after rescuing swimmer caught in a rip tide at Silver Strand Beach
OXNARD, Calif,—Monday night, a local man was caught in a rip tide for over 20 minutes off Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, minutes away from potentially drowning
People called 9-1-1, but after hearing a conversation from his dad’s pocket dial, 20 year old Noah Gilbert acted quickly, immediately throwing on his wet suit and grabbing a brand new pink surfboard.
“I was initially scared, not for myself, but for him. I mean, I was thinking, okay, what if I can't get to him in time? So a surfboard without wax means that it's super slippery. And I'm paddling out to the lineup kind of side slipping off my board. I'm thinking if I lose my board also maybe swim out to him, but I won't really have any flotation for him or myself,” said Noah Gilbert who lives in Silver Strand Beach.
Noah ran several blocks from his house to the beach, sprinted through the sand, and swam 150 yards through the riptide.
“You know, if you're out of breath and they're out of breath, sometimes they if they're about to go under that they can pull you down. And I don't want to be in that situation,” said Gilbert.
He knew every second could be the difference between life or death.
“I had to throw on the thinnest and most lightweight wetsuit just because I can get it on a lot quicker. I figured if I throw on a full winter wetsuit, typically in your suit, now that takes five, 5 minutes alone but I figured quickest one possible and just run out because most be the most agile I could be,” said Gilbert.
Noah had gifted the bright pink surfboard to his dad for Christmas.
What was initially a gag gift ended up being a life saving device.
“It helped us locate him because we could see the surfboard. So that's when it was getting dark. It's harder to see people if they're in a dark colored wetsuit,” said Harbor Patrol Sergeant for Channel Islands Harbor Patrol Chris Turek.
Noah says he managed to pull the man onto his surfboard until harbor patrol got there.
The man was shivering and cold but was not hurt.
People are calling him a hero, and his mom is just happy everyone is safe.
“It's emotional. You know, it was it was amazing. It was scary. It was like all these emotions and adrenaline,” said Heather Gilbert.
Heather says she hopes this puts pressure on the powers that be to implement junior lifeguard programs in the area and to have a working lifeguard on duty during the winter.
