MENDOCINO >> A family outing turned tragic Monday when a Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and his young son were swept into the waters off the coast of Mendocino.
Quick response saved the boy. The deputy, however, was reportedly face down in the water and unconscious when pulled onto a rescue craft. At press time he remained on life support in a Santa Rosa hospital.
The names of the two had not been released.
For Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ed O’Brien, who coordinated the rescue effort, the struggle to save the law enforcement officer was difficult to watch.
“I knew this was salvageable if time was on our side,” he said. “Time just wasn’t on our side for the man.”
O’Brien and Mendocino County deputy Sean Wristen were the first to arrive on the scene, shortly after a desperate 911 call Monday afternoon. The chief saw the two drifting off a steep rocky point along the peninsula, with no beach access.
According to O’Brien the boy was approximately 40 feet from the shore, the man perhaps 10 feet further out. Both were fighting to keep their heads above the water.
A young adult male O’Brien assumed was also a relative of the victims met the responders, grabbing a throw stick from the Mendocino County deputy and running with the officer toward the water. Wristen and the unidentified male heaved the stick — an inflatable device — as far as they could, reaching the boy.
“The effort of the deputy sheriff made all the difference in the world to that boy’s life,” O’Brien said. “It’s just sad we couldn’t get another out there fast enough.”
O’Brien had called for support from a U.S. Coast Guard and medical helicopter, an ambulance team, a support vehicle and two rescue-equipped jet skis. The jet skis each carried sleds and divers. Both victims had drifted into blue water, considered safe for a rescue operation.
“It looked to me like a boat rescue,” he explained.
Before the jet skis arrived, the Lake County deputy quit moving, O’Brien said. One jet ski crew pulled the boy on board and rushed him to a waiting ambulance. The other recovered the man and took him to the shore.
There 8 responders, including several paramedics, performed CPR.
O’Brien explain that the efforts of those responders gave the Lake County deputy a chance. There were no new reports on his condition at press time.
