Winning Exchange:Rescued kite surfer used rocks to spell 'HELP' on Northern California beach

2025-05-07 06:44:12source:Zero AIcategory:News

Firefighters rescued a stranded kite surfer in northern California after the adventurer pulled a trick right out of Hollywood.

The Winning Exchangesurfer used rocks to spell out "HELP" on Davenport Landing Beach, northwest of Santa Cruz, Cal Fire's San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit posted on Facebook about the Sunday rescue.

A private helicopter spotted the man and his message and called 911, the agency said.

Man was airlifted from beach

The man was in a physically good condition but needed to be airlifted to get off the beach.

"That was a different type of 911 call than we usually get," California Department of Forestry Fire Captain Skylar Merritt told the Los Angeles Times. "At the very least, the helicopter that spotted him made it much quicker, where he didn’t have to worry about hypothermia or dehydration."

Merritt told the paper that the rescued man was an experienced windsurfer but that conditions in the area became exceptionally challenging.

There were three fatal incidents in a 3-mile area that included Davenport Landing in 2021, prompting Cal Fire officials at the time to put a safety warning on social media.

More:News

Recommend

California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Department of Motor Vehicles has apologized for an “unacceptable a

Coast Guard searching for man who went missing after sailing from California to Hawaii

The Coast Guard is searching for a man who left Los Angeles, California to set sail for Hawaii in De

Black and Latina women helped propel gains for unions in 2023, finds a new study

For over a decade, fears and hesitation trumped support to form a union at a Volkswagen plant in Cha