A hero surfer helped pluck two teenage girls from what appeared to be a rip current in Lake Michigan, officials said. Zeb Boeskool sprung into action after the girls were spotted approximately 800 feet out from the pier earlier today in Grand Haven, about 15 miles from Muskegon.
“It appears that the girls may have become caught in a rip current,” Jeff Hawke, the Grand Haven Public Safety Director, said in a statement.
One of the girls reported that she felt like she was being “pulled out,” Hawke said.
According to officials, Boeskool “was able to pull the girls from the water” with the help of Grand Haven Public Safety.
“Boeskool is credited with saving the 13 year-old girl’s life,” Hawke said.
The 13 year-old was not breathing when she was plucked from the surf, but she was in stable condition at a local hospital Thursday night.
The 14 year-old girl was also hospitalized for observation but was later released, officials said.
According to the National Weather Service, rip currents are one of the hazards for beaches on the Great Lakes.
They usually appear near gaps in sand bars and can be seen from the tops of dunes in the morning or midday, the NWS said.
Waves are also a threat in the Great Lakes because of short time spans between them.
The NWS said the drowning risk is especially high when waves reach 3-5 feet.
Waves were more than 6 feet high around noon Thursday, according to the NWS, with heights of more than 7 feet in some places.
Grand Haven was listed as a beach with “particularly dangerous conditions,” the NWS said.