A 32-year-old San Francisco man was spotted floating face-down in the ocean off Stinson Beach and reportedly rescued by a group of people that included a San Anselmo man Saturday afternoon.
National Park Rangers were on regular patrol at Stinson Beach at approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard people yelling for help on the beach, according to Alexandra Picavet, a spokesperson for the park service. Park Rangers Scott Nash and Navin Chan went to the scene and discovered an unconscious man who had a bodyboard with him.
The man reportedly was pulled from the water by a group of people that included San Anselmo resident Peter Badger, whose wife emailed Patch Sunday to inquire about the victim's status.
The rangers determined that the victim wasn't breathing and had no pulse, according to Picavet, and Chan performed CPR while Nash retrieved a defibrillator from a nearby ranger station. After several minutes of the rangers performing lifesaving measures, the victim gasped and was able to sporadically breathe on his own, Picavet said.
Stinson Beach Volunteer Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene and the patient began to breathe on his own and opened his eyes several times, she said.
A REACH air ambulance helicopter landed on the beach to take the victim to Doctors Hospital in San Pablo, where he remains in a critical condition.
The cause of the emergency is still under investigation.
