Surfers rush to rescue struggling swimmers
BY LISA NEWELL Gulf Breeze News lisa@gulfbreezenews.com

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Luc Medwell, 17, and Nick Romjue, 15, helped rescue a Georgia woman and her daughter who were in distress Sunday on Pensacola Beach.

Two Gulf Breeze High students will have quite a story to tell this week as they return from Spring Break.

A birthday party at the beach turned into much more when partygoers rescued a Georgia woman and her daughter from the Gulf of Mexico Sunday near the Fort Pickens gate.

Nick Romjue, 15, and Luc Medwell, 17, were attending Luc's sister's 16th birthday party at the pavilions near the Fort Pickens gate, when they heard a cry for help.

"A girl ran up to us, saying 'help, our friend is stuck and can't get onto shore.' We ran over and saw it was actually serious," Luc said.

Nick went entered the water on his surfboard, saw the woman struggling and heard he cry, "Get my daughter, get my daughter, get my daughter."

Ten yards away, Nick located the girl, 18, face down in the water, unconscious. Both women were in deep water between the first and second sandbars.

He gave the mother the surfboard, swam to the daughter and pulled her to safety, locking the girl in his arms and swimming on his back toward shore.

Meanwhile, Luc saw that the mother was having a hard time bringing herself in on Nick's surfboard, so he jumped to action.

"She had the surfboard but was tired, struggling in the water. I basically pushed her to shore," Luc said.

Fortunately, a vacationing park ranger from out of state was on shore and administered CPR to the daughter, restarting her pulse. Her skin was blue, and her eyes were rolled back into her head, the surfers said.

By then, emergency medical crews were on the scene and used their equipment to get the daughter breathing again. Meanwhile, the mother went into shock, fainted and was revived by rescue crews.

They didn't realize until later that a crowd of about 50 people was assembled on shore, witnessing the rescue and offering their prayers for survival.

Both surfers agreed the experience was hard to believe.

"We didn't really think about it," Nick said, "we just acted."

They normally surf near the Pensacola Beach ball, but were on the scene due to sister Melanie's party.

Ayellow flag was flying, and no lifeguards were present on that segment of the beach due to the early season. More lifeguards will be stationed along the beach as waters warm up in mid May

The experience of saving lives was "exhilarating" and hard to believe as the excitement died down and the birthday party resumed.

And although the boys are credited with this heroic rescue, they said they would do things different in the future.

"I'd probably learn how to do CPR," Nick, a freshman at GBHS, said.

"Yeah, that would be nice to know," Luc, a senior at GBHS, said.

The boys visited the mother and daughter in the hospital and said that the daughter was in critical condition as of Monday. The women are reportedly from Columbus, Ga.