Two CID Students Rescue Near-Drowning Victim at Pensacola Beach

By Gary Nichols, Center for Information Dominance Public Affairs

PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- Two Center for Information Dominance (CID) Unit Corry Station students rescued a near-drowning victim at Pensacola Beach late Saturday evening.

Information Systems Technician "A" school students ITSN Cameryn Cassell and ITSN Justin Harris were about to board a bus about 7:30 p.m. to take them back to Corry Station when they heard shouts that someone was in trouble.

It was past sunset, and the beach lifeguards were off duty. In the dim light, it took the Sailors a few moments to locate the swimmer.

"I looked around and didn't see anything at first," Cassell said. "Then I saw a head come up and then it went back down under, and then it stayed under for a while and then it came back up again."

Cassell, who grew up surfing in the Atlantic Ocean near his hometown of Hubert, N.C., recognized that someone was in imminent danger and immediately took action.

He and Harris both raced into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico to render assistance to the struggling swimmer, who was about 150 yards offshore past the breaks

Cassell reached the victim first.

He said the victim was underwater, and he had to swim down to retrieve him.

"Cassell got to him first and grabbed him as soon as he went underwater," Harris said. "It was almost like something you'd see in a movie."

Fortunately the victim was still conscious, but began vomiting once he resurfaced.

The swim back to the beach was challenging, with an outgoing rip current and reported surf of two to three feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I put my arm around his chest and I started swimming back in, and that was a good 150 yards out," Cassell said. "And the whole time I was swimming against the current, because he had gotten sucked out by a rip current and I was swimming against it the whole way back in."

Both Cassell and Harris brought the victim to shore. Within minutes, an emergency team had arrived.

Station 13 Fire Rescue Officer in Charge, Lt. Daniel Ackerman said his station responded to the call about the distressed swimmer, and that the Sailors bringing the victim safely back to the beach made all the difference in the outcome.

"If the Sailors hadn't been there, it would have definitely been a different situation because he was completely exhausted by the time they got him in," he said.

Without the Sailors providing assistance, Ackerman's rescue team would have had to search the waters for the swimmer before they could render aid. The darkness would have definitely hindered any rescue efforts.

"With it being dark, it really tasks us to get there and find the victim and get them ashore and do everything we need to do," Ackerman said. "The Sailors were able to go get him, and bring him in safely and it definitely was a better call than we would have expected if they hadn't done that."

Santa Rosa Island Authority Director of Public Safety Bob West said swimming in the Gulf of Mexico can be dangerous, especially if factors such as drinking, surf, darkness or fatigue are involved.

"The Gulf is an unforgiving place; it is inherently dangerous," West said. "But it had a good outcome, so kudos to them."

CID is the Navy's Learning Center that leads, manages and delivers Navy and joint force training in information operations, information warfare, information technology, cryptology and intelligence.