A Dana Point surf instructor rescued a 6-year-old girl and her father from a rip current in Oceanside last weekend.
Lucas Taub was coaching a surf competition when he walked along the rocks to the end of the jetty and heard a scream.
"I walked out along the rocks. I got almost to the end of the jetty. I heard a scream, and then I looked down, and I saw the young girl kind of bobbing up and down, to you know, get air and stay afloat. Right away I just acted. Took off my shoes, took off my hat, put my phone down," Taub said. "... I had one thing in mind, and that was bringing her to safety."
Chris Green and his 6-year-old daughter, Coco, were struggling in the water.
"My daughter, Coco, she's 6, and she doesn't know how to swim," Green said.
Green attempted to reach his daughter after she swam too far into the ocean and was also caught in the rip current, and physically exhausted by the time he made it to her.
"I ran as fast as I could, I swam as fast as I could, and at one point, I got pretty physically exhausted. The rip current was still really strong," Green said.
Taub swam diagonally against the current and towards the jetty, helping the pair get to safety.
The near-drowning happened on a day that was already difficult for the family.
"My oldest son passed away a couple years ago. That day, March 15th, which was that Sunday this all went down, would have been his birthday. We were spending some time there because he loved the beach and then we were going to head to his gravesite," Green said.
Since the rescue, Green and Taub have formed a bond and talk daily.
The Oceanside Fire Department told me on the phone that they plan to award Taub with an award for his heroism in a ceremony later this year.
"My whole family is first responders. My dad's a doctor, my mom's a nurse too, like, be someone to serve like that is cool because my parents and my family all do that," Taub said.
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