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Originally Posted by WrestlingInc
The lifeguard who first responded to Shad and his son at around 4pm local time on Sunday, between 50 and 70 yards off the shore, said the Gaspards were caught in a strong rip current, enveloped in what's called an "impact zone."
"The best way I can describe it," said Kenichi Haskett, Section Chief of the LA County Fire Department - Lifeguard Division who personally debriefed the lifeguard. "is like being inside a front-loading washing machine. The waves keep crashing on you, pushing you down. ... I've been through that, those kind of rescues. You think you might die."
This was the first weekend where Los Angeles County opened its beaches since the coronavirus stay-at-home order was issued. Swells were 6 feet and the current was fast, water was choppy due to bad weather. Shad and his son were now 200 yards north of where the lifeguard first spotted them. The lifeguard tried to deliver a "rescue can" (small buoy-like device to tow distressed swimmers back to shore) to Shad and his son, but the boy was unable to secure it due to the size of the waves.
The lifeguard, who also has a middle school-aged son, was now presented with an excruciating dilemma as he recognized how big Shad was - 6 foot 6 inches, around 270 pounds.
"Based on the gentlemen's size and the conditions in the water...," Haskett said, "these are choices we do not want to make."
The lifeguard reported that Shad told him to rescue his son first. "Take my son," Shad said.
Less than three minutes later, Shad's son was safe on the shore, physically unharmed but deeply distraught.
"Dad told me to push off to the guy," Shad's son told Steve Smith, a firefighter-paramedic from Rescue 63 in Venice. Shad's son kept saying that: "Dad told me to push off to the guy."
The lifeguard then turned back to make a quick return to the ocean, and saw Shad again.
"A wave pushed him under in the impact zone," said Haskett. "He didn't resurface after that."
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