NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Dozens of lifeguards from across the New Jersey shore reported for work Cape May’s beach Friday to allow the local patrol to attend the funeral of their 16-year-old coworker who died on duty.
Fifty-six lifeguards participated in the touching show of solidary for Norman V. Inferrera III, the first-year lifeguard for the Cape May Beach Patrol who died earlier this month when his boat capsized.
“Patrols from Monmouth County, Ocean County, Cape May County and Atlantic county all banded together on this past Friday so that the Cape May Beach Patrol would be able to attend Norman’s funeral,” said Mark Jamieson, chief of the Ocean County Beach Patrol.
Jamieson said the tragedy has resulted in new bonds and relationships between the state’s patrols.
“It’s going to be the professionalism, the continued education and the camaraderie that has been developed in the past couple of weeks from different agencies spending time down there and just communicating,” he added.
Norman was rowing a surfboat on Aug. 19 when the vessel was broadsided by a wave and flipped over, knocking him unconscious. He was flown to Cooper University Medial Center in Camden, where he died the following night.
The Reading Avenue Beach, the scene of the accident, has been renamed in Norman's honor.
Cape May officials are now reexamining the use of the boats, with some arguing that they are outdated,
The Press of Atlantic City reports that Cape May officials have decided that guards will not train on or use the boats for at least the remainder of the year. Mayor Zack Mullock said the city will take a careful look at the boats’ place in modern lifesaving and on the beach.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.