A 55-year-old lifeguard has been praised for saving four members of a British family from drowning in Fuerteventura. The rescue took place at Grandes Playas de Corralejo on the Spanish island, where the family got into serious difficulty in the water.
The lifeguard was on watch in his tower when he spotted several people struggling a considerable distance from the shore at about 2.30pm local time on Friday. He immediately left his post, ran down the beach and swam out toward the family.
Rescue and treatment
After reaching the holidaymakers, the lifeguard kept all four of them afloat while waiting for rescue teams to arrive. A rescue jet ski later arrived with two lifeguards on board, who helped bring the Brits back to shore.
On returning to the beach, rescuers found that a teenager under the age of 18 was showing signs of a non-fatal drowning, according to the Canarian Weekly. The lifeguards treated the child and alerted the Canary Islands Emergency Service. Paramedics arrived a few minutes later and transported the teen to a hospital, where they were admitted but are reported to be out of danger.
Praise for the lifeguard
Other lifeguards praised the 55-year-old's fitness, saying his intervention prevented a tragedy. He swam a considerable distance from the shore and kept the four people afloat until other rescuers arrived, both requiring significant displays of strength and endurance.
His efforts meant the Brits stayed above water long enough to be reached by the rescue jet ski. Following the rescue, there have been calls for more information, warnings and restrictions to be displayed in multiple languages.
Calls for multilingual signs
Lifeguards believe multilingual signs could help prevent tourists from misunderstanding warnings about dangerous sea conditions, as Fuerteventura attracts visitors from across Europe and further afield. They argue that making safety instructions easy to understand could help prevent fatal incidents, especially on beaches where currents and challenging conditions may not be clear to inexperienced swimmers.
The rescue comes after a British man died in Fuerteventura earlier this year after suffering a cardiac arrest while being saved from the sea by helicopter. The man was found by rescuers aboard the emergency rescue helicopter in June. After being winched to safety, crews found he was in cardiac arrest and immediately began CPR while transporting him to a nearby landing site. Paramedics, a medical helicopter crew and staff from a local health centre attempted to resuscitate him on the ground, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A second swimmer reached the shore without assistance and was treated on the beach by paramedics.
