The infamous waters off Far Rockaway have claimed another victim, the first (and let's hope the last) of the season. A 14-year-old boy drowned this afternoon while swimming in a restricted area without lifeguards in the vicinity of Seagirt Blvd. and Beach 19th Street. The teen's friend was also in trouble, but he was rescued by a good Samaritan. EMTs were called to the scene around 12:30 p.m., and 40 minutes later they located the drowned youth. "They went out of range without any supervision," local fisherman Reginald Whitley tells the Post. "I told them to go down where the lifeguards are at. They failed to listen to the advice. They ignored me. And this water is very, very dangerous."
"People over here were trying to save him, but they couldn't get out that far," witness Dayquwas Gales, 14, tells DNAinfo. "He went out too far and basically started drowning." FDNY officers tried to resuscitate the unidentified boy after pulling him from the water, but it was too late. “It was a large area we had to cover,” an FDNY source tells the Daily News.
With all the renewed excitement in some circles for Rockaway Beach, it's worth noting that the riptide out at the Rockaways is notoriously treacherous, and hardly a year goes by without a drowning. Piece of advice: follow the rules and swim only in designated areas when there's a life guard present. There are no lifeguards at the popular Fort Tilden beaches, so don't venture out too far in to the surf there, either. And should you find yourself sucked out to sea by the riptide, here's your best shot at survival.
