Georgia man drowns on Pensacola Beach
Drowning breaks 3-year safety streak
BY SCOTT PAGE Gulf Breeze News scott@gulfbreezenews.com

One group of students' spring break trip to Pensacola Beach ended in tragedy as one of the visitors drowned Saturday afternoon, March 15.

According to The Athens Banner-Herald, the man has been identified as Bijal Patel, a 27-year-old doctoral student at the University of Georgia.

"According to a witness, he [Patel] had submerged before our lifeguard could reach him," said Bob West, Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) Public Safety Director. "We had to reel him to shore and tried to resuscitate him on the beach before [Escambia County] EMS transported him to Gulf Breeze Hospital.

"We don't understand why they went in the water in the first place. The red flags have been out since Friday, and this was the only time lifeguards went in the water [on Saturday]. No one else was swimming."

West said that there have only been two drowning deaths, including the most recent, on Pensacola beach since he became the SRIA Public Safety Director. He added that both incidents happened in areas that were not lifeguard-protected areas on red flag days.

"The tragedy is that had he stayed on the beach he'd be alive today," West said. "People need to understand that the gulf is a dangerous place, and when we're flying the red flag, it's just too dangerous to be out there."