Surfers rescue man with dangerous medical condition

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A local man is alive today largely due to the efforts of two fast-thinking surfers.

It was a beautiful Saturday at the beach behind the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, the kind of day that draws families. It was also the kind of day that draws surfers; Hurricane Isaias was offshore on that first day of August, and it was creating ideal surfing waves.

Ben Smith had paddled out on his short board but soon found himself in a rip current.

“I started paddling, and I tried to fight against the rip,” he said. “About that time, I started feeling light-headed and dizzy.”

Smith has been surfing for more than 30 years, catching waves around the world. In fact, he’s rescued a couple of people in that time. But he also has a couple of medical conditions, including atrial fibrillation, that occasionally flare up.

He knew he was in trouble.

He attempted to wave down another surfer, Jeff Tidwell. At first, Tidwell thought Smith was just waving hello, so he waved back. Then he turned to another surfer, Brogan Taylor, and asked, “Do you know this guy?”

When he turned back, Smith was patting his chest. Tidwell turned to Taylor and yelled, “Hey, man, something’s up.”

The men paddled over to Smith, Tidwell arriving first.

“I was yelling for Brogan, ‘Hey, I’m going to need some help; we’ve got to get this guy to the beach,’” Tidwell said.

The men arranged for Smith to lie on his board and grab onto their ankles so that they could tow him in.

Eventually, they entered what surfers call the impact zone, where the waves are most powerful when they break. Suddenly, a five-foot wave rose up, about to crash down on the three of them.

Taylor and Tidwell knew they would have to separate from Smith. They angled him so that he could possibly ride out the wave. After it passed, Taylor looked for Smith’s board, which would be sticking up out of the water if he’d slipped off because he was tethered to the back end. But there was no sign of it.

“I look over at Jeff and I go, ‘Where is he?’” said Taylor. “Jeff said right before it hit us, he looked over at him and said, ‘You hold onto that board like your life depends on it.’”

And Smith did just that. They found him and got him to the beach. Taylor ran for help while Tidwell stayed with Smith.

“A lady came out of nowhere,” Tidwell recalled. “She said, ‘What’s going on? I’m a trauma nurse. Can I help?’ She literally took control of the scene. She started asking for things out of the lifeguard’s bag. She cut his sun shirt off of him. She backed everybody up. She asked for an umbrella for shade. She asked for towels for him to lay on.”

Soon, deputies and Fire Rescue arrived and Smith was taken to the hospital.

The episode now behind him, Smith expressed gratitude for the paramedics, the lifeguards, the nurse and everyone else who helped that day. And, especially, the two men who got him to shore.

“These gentlemen were selfless, and we need more of that in our society today,” he said. “Every day’s a blessing; we’ve just got to remember it.”

“I’m glad I was there to help,” said Tidwell. “I would hope somebody would do it for me.”