ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – The surf instructor who helped rescue one of the two people out of the water at St. Augustine Beach Thursday is talking about the traumatic experience.
Parker Sawyer rescued a 14-year-old girl from the ocean but was unable to get to the 21-year-old man she was swimming with.
The girl and man were in waist-deep water when they started struggling with the current. Children, who were taking swimming lessons from Sawyer, saw the pair struggling and alerted someone for help.
“He was a little further out than the girl and took more time to get to and the swells were rolling by and after one rode by, he was gone,” Sawyer said.
Nearly an hour later, the man’s unresponsive body was pulled from the water about a mile north of where he went missing.
The 14-year-old, who asked not to be named, talked with News4JAX a day after being recused.
She said the 21-year-old man, who she identified as Gerson, was working with her and her mother at the Clay County Fair as vendors from out of town. The 14-year-old and her mother are from Michigan but said Gerson was from Mexico.
The teen said prior to Thursday’s incident, Gerson had made plans to travel back to Mexico to be with his family.
When asked how they were doing after the shocking experience, the teen said she and her mother were rattled.
“She is keeping a close eye on me now. Mentally, I’m still really shaken up and everything doesn’t feel right. I will always have that image in my head of watching him go under and struggle,” the teen shared.
Sawyer shared the same sentiments as the teen regarding the incident.
“I’ve been hanging out and processing it. As a surfer, you see that kind of thing more often than the average person from Michigan,” Sawyer said.
Although Gerson was last listed in critical condition, News4JAX has been unable to confirm if he survived. Because of HIPAA laws, the hospital cannot release that information.