NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Gov. Phil Murphy praised a 16-year-old surfer who rescued three men from a rip current on the jersey shore last week.
“A huge shout out to Point Pleasant’s Kayla Smith, whose heroic efforts saved the lives of three men caught in a rip current offshore in Bay Head last week,” Murphy tweeted. “With her board, Kayla dove into the ocean and brought all three men back safely to shore.”
Smith was just finishing up a surf session on Sept. 26 when she was alerted to the men struggling off the shore and pulled them all to safety, according to a News12 report.
“Two women ran up to me,” Smith told the station. “They asked if I could go get their husbands. I grabbed my board. I ran right in there."
Smith said she has been surfing for five years and noticed the waters were very dangerous that day — but when she was out on her rescue she said she put the safety of the men first.
"I couldn't even think, it was just like keep paddling try as hard as you can,” says Smith. “I was worried about them more than myself because I could tell they were sipping on water from the ocean and everything; they couldn't catch their breath and I was like I'll balance the board for you guys just kick to help me get in because there was no way I could have pulled them in. No one could touch up there. It was probably a 10-foot drop maybe."