Help me thank the man who saved me
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I am a friend of Jozalin's, and I am telling her story.
My name is Jozalin, I am 13, on Aug. 20th, I almost died. I was caught in a rip current on the south side of Grand Haven's Pier......my rescuer, Zebulon Boeskool didnt think twice about diving into the waves to save me. I am so grateful for my hero. But.....on Sept. 1st, someone stole his longboards, which he loves. It has come to my attention that he recently ordered a new snowboard, another love, from a local store, Smokin Mad Love. I wanted to raise money for the longboards to be replaced, but with summer ending, and the snowboard season starting, I thought I would try to help him pay for his new snowboard. I can not thank him enough for my life, but maybe I can give HIM a gift. Here is our story...
Surfer Zebulon Boeskool didn't think; he just acted.
He was on the south pier at Grand Haven State Park when his friend Trevor ran up to him and said, "Hey! Pull the life ring! Pull the life preserver!"
"I pulled the life preserver," Boeskool said later. "No sooner than I could think, I jumped into the water."
Boeskool, 25, of Grand Haven, risked his own life to rescue a drowning 13-year-old Grand Haven girl, apparently caught in a rip current, around 3:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20.
At one point he feared they both would die, as enormous waves battered and pushed them.
But he held on, talked to the seemingly unconscious girl — "I kept telling her, 'Sweetie, it's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK'" — treaded water and finally, exhausted, got her close enough to shore for others to bring her in.
The girl, whose name hasn't been released, was recovering at an area hospital Friday morning. The 14-year-old girl she was swimming with was treated and released Thursday at North Ottawa Community Hospital.
Boeskool's actions, captured in dramatic high resolution by amateur photographer Mike Dixon, have drawn national attention. He's being called a hero, something that strikes him oddly.
"It's crazy, the publicity's crazy," Boeskool said. "I don't really feel like I'm a hero.
"But I just feel like people should do good when they're able, that kind of chivalrous code that has kinda died," Boeskool said.
"Everybody has a chance, everybody can do something good every day, not being a hero about it."
Boeskool was out at the state park surfing Thursday afternoon, a day of strong winds and extremely high, dangerous waves that might have reached seven to nine feet. A red flag was posted at the beach warning people to stay out of the water. The National Weather Service had warned of potentially deadly conditions.
Boeskool knew the danger but felt safe because he was wearing body-boarding fins, is a strong swimmer and has many years of experience on Lake Michigan.
"I don't suggest other people do it," he said. "But I do have fins on. The fins make you be able to break free from the current. And I know how to do it. ... I've been doing it since I was a little kid. You gotta know how to not freak out."
But all the seasoned surfer's experience didn't prepare him for the danger of rescuing another person in deadly waves.
"I jumped in the water, swam out and ended up finding her," he said. "She looked like a log just floating out there." He estimates she was about 100 to 150 feet out from the pier.
She appeared to be unconscious and was "gargling" in an attempt to breathe, Boeskool said. But when he grabbed her she seemed to hold onto his arm, or at least didn't slip out.
I kept telling her, 'Sweetie, it's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK'"
"She wasn't really conscious, but at the same time it felt like she could hear me," he said. So he continously reassured her, telling her it was going to be OK.
"Then we just paddled in. A couple big waves came, scared the crap out of me," Boeskool said.
They barely made it. There were moments he thought they might not, when the rip current was pulling them both.
"Honestly, I was worried for my life once I grabbed her," he said. "I didn't think about that before I jumped in. I'm thinking, 'Great, now we're gonna drown. Now it's not just you, it's me and you.'"
But he hung on, didn't let the girl go and finally — utterly exhausted — got close enough to shore to hand the girl off to other rescuers.
"I just kinda tread water as much as I can," he recalled. "My biggest thing was holding her above water. When I was back somewhere where I could stand and not be underwater, I'd swim a little bit and stand up again.
"But that immediate first 30 seconds were pretty sketchy."
The rescues of both girls were captured in incredible photos shot by Mike Dixon, a software developer who does photography as a hobby.
Dixon said he and his brother-in-law were at the beach to get pictures of the high waves. Dixon had set up his camera on a tripod near the pier's life rings.
Then the whole dramatic scene unfolded in front of him. Another man grabbed a life ring and jumped into the water. Dixon and his brother-in-law couldn't see anyone in the water at first, then saw the two girls "way out there."
With no flotation device, they knew they couldn't reach the girls without drowning, but they did help direct rescuers to where the girls were, because — on the pier above the wild waves — they could see them better than the rescuers could.
After the 14-year-old girl was rescued, one of the men tried to reach the 13-year-old but couldn't quite make it, forced back by the current. That man pointed out the girl's location as Boeskool headed her way, one of many moments Dixon captured with his camera.
Dixon shared the photos with news media, leading to national attention for the incident.
As for Boeskool, he wants to meet the girl he rescued and her family.
"I actually just got a message from her dad," he said Friday morning, Aug. 21.
"I started crying. Because I've got two little girls," one 2 years old, one 3. "I just hope in that same scenario, someone would do the same for them."
My name is Jozalin, I am 13, on Aug. 20th, I almost died. I was caught in a rip current on the south side of Grand Haven's Pier......my rescuer, Zebulon Boeskool didnt think twice about diving into the waves to save me. I am so grateful for my hero. But.....on Sept. 1st, someone stole his longboards, which he loves. It has come to my attention that he recently ordered a new snowboard, another love, from a local store, Smokin Mad Love. I wanted to raise money for the longboards to be replaced, but with summer ending, and the snowboard season starting, I thought I would try to help him pay for his new snowboard. I can not thank him enough for my life, but maybe I can give HIM a gift. Here is our story...
Surfer Zebulon Boeskool didn't think; he just acted.
He was on the south pier at Grand Haven State Park when his friend Trevor ran up to him and said, "Hey! Pull the life ring! Pull the life preserver!"
"I pulled the life preserver," Boeskool said later. "No sooner than I could think, I jumped into the water."
Boeskool, 25, of Grand Haven, risked his own life to rescue a drowning 13-year-old Grand Haven girl, apparently caught in a rip current, around 3:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20.
At one point he feared they both would die, as enormous waves battered and pushed them.
But he held on, talked to the seemingly unconscious girl — "I kept telling her, 'Sweetie, it's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK'" — treaded water and finally, exhausted, got her close enough to shore for others to bring her in.
The girl, whose name hasn't been released, was recovering at an area hospital Friday morning. The 14-year-old girl she was swimming with was treated and released Thursday at North Ottawa Community Hospital.
Boeskool's actions, captured in dramatic high resolution by amateur photographer Mike Dixon, have drawn national attention. He's being called a hero, something that strikes him oddly.
"It's crazy, the publicity's crazy," Boeskool said. "I don't really feel like I'm a hero.
"But I just feel like people should do good when they're able, that kind of chivalrous code that has kinda died," Boeskool said.
"Everybody has a chance, everybody can do something good every day, not being a hero about it."
Boeskool was out at the state park surfing Thursday afternoon, a day of strong winds and extremely high, dangerous waves that might have reached seven to nine feet. A red flag was posted at the beach warning people to stay out of the water. The National Weather Service had warned of potentially deadly conditions.
Boeskool knew the danger but felt safe because he was wearing body-boarding fins, is a strong swimmer and has many years of experience on Lake Michigan.
"I don't suggest other people do it," he said. "But I do have fins on. The fins make you be able to break free from the current. And I know how to do it. ... I've been doing it since I was a little kid. You gotta know how to not freak out."
But all the seasoned surfer's experience didn't prepare him for the danger of rescuing another person in deadly waves.
"I jumped in the water, swam out and ended up finding her," he said. "She looked like a log just floating out there." He estimates she was about 100 to 150 feet out from the pier.
She appeared to be unconscious and was "gargling" in an attempt to breathe, Boeskool said. But when he grabbed her she seemed to hold onto his arm, or at least didn't slip out.
I kept telling her, 'Sweetie, it's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK'"
"She wasn't really conscious, but at the same time it felt like she could hear me," he said. So he continously reassured her, telling her it was going to be OK.
"Then we just paddled in. A couple big waves came, scared the crap out of me," Boeskool said.
They barely made it. There were moments he thought they might not, when the rip current was pulling them both.
"Honestly, I was worried for my life once I grabbed her," he said. "I didn't think about that before I jumped in. I'm thinking, 'Great, now we're gonna drown. Now it's not just you, it's me and you.'"
But he hung on, didn't let the girl go and finally — utterly exhausted — got close enough to shore to hand the girl off to other rescuers.
"I just kinda tread water as much as I can," he recalled. "My biggest thing was holding her above water. When I was back somewhere where I could stand and not be underwater, I'd swim a little bit and stand up again.
"But that immediate first 30 seconds were pretty sketchy."
The rescues of both girls were captured in incredible photos shot by Mike Dixon, a software developer who does photography as a hobby.
Dixon said he and his brother-in-law were at the beach to get pictures of the high waves. Dixon had set up his camera on a tripod near the pier's life rings.
Then the whole dramatic scene unfolded in front of him. Another man grabbed a life ring and jumped into the water. Dixon and his brother-in-law couldn't see anyone in the water at first, then saw the two girls "way out there."
With no flotation device, they knew they couldn't reach the girls without drowning, but they did help direct rescuers to where the girls were, because — on the pier above the wild waves — they could see them better than the rescuers could.
After the 14-year-old girl was rescued, one of the men tried to reach the 13-year-old but couldn't quite make it, forced back by the current. That man pointed out the girl's location as Boeskool headed her way, one of many moments Dixon captured with his camera.
Dixon shared the photos with news media, leading to national attention for the incident.
As for Boeskool, he wants to meet the girl he rescued and her family.
"I actually just got a message from her dad," he said Friday morning, Aug. 21.
"I started crying. Because I've got two little girls," one 2 years old, one 3. "I just hope in that same scenario, someone would do the same for them."
Organizer
Kari Samuelson
Organizer
Grand Haven, MI
