JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A woman pulled from the ocean Tuesday in Jacksonville Beach later died at the hospital, News4Jax has learned.
She was in critical condition and her husband, who was pulled from the surf with her, was in serious condition earlier this week. Sources told News4Jax she did not survive.
The couple and their small child were vacationing visitors from another state.
One of three beachgoers who played a role in the rescue effort said he feels awful for the couple’s young son.
John Blackwelder said he was riding his bike along the beach Tuesday when a good Samaritan pulled a husband and wife out of the water.
Witnesses said the husband went into the water to rescue his wife who was struggling before going under. But then the husband started to struggle and needed help.
Blackwelder said that while the good Samaritan performed CPR on the woman, the good Samaritan’s wife asked him to run to the nearest lifeguard station to get help.
“The nearest station was between an eighth of a mile and quarter of a mile away, so I said sure and flew down to the lifeguard station and told the guy what was going on and said, ‘Here, take my bike. You will get there a lot faster,’ and he did,” Blackwelder said.
Blackwelder said he ran back to the rescue location to see what was happening.
“The lady was not breathing. Another three or four minutes went by before the Jax Beach Ocean Rescue truck got on sight,” Blackwelder said.
He said Ocean Rescue workers were trying to revive the woman, but she still appeared unresponsive and so they began transporting her to a waiting ambulance. Blackwelder said the young lifeguard he flagged down did everything he could to revive her and was visibly upset when Ocean Rescue took her away.
The woman’s husband was so exhausted that he required oxygen.
“He kept asking, ‘How’s my wife? How’s my wife?’ That’s how we knew they were a couple,” Blackwelder said.
Blackwelder said the couple’s child, who is believed to be 4 or 5 years old, watched everything unfold.
“He was by the water when they were bringing his mom and dad out,” Blackwelder said.
Blackwelder said the good Samaritan’s wife didn’t want the child to continue watching his exhausted father and unresponsive mother, so she took the child to another spot down the beach.
“I even noticed she had him facing the land instead of the ocean to keep him calm and take care of his needs,” Blackwelder said. “It breaks my heart, not only for the loss of her life for her husband, but that boy who is 4 or 5 years old who had to witness that trauma, and it’s something that will stick with him for the rest of his life, and it’s just sad.”