A woman was hospitalized Friday after jumping off of the Hermosa Beach Pier.
Beachgoers alerted authorities to the woman in the water off the south side of the pier about 1:20 p.m. James Kaiser and Ryan Manick, two surfers who were nearby and witnessed the rescue, said that the woman was fully clothed when she hit the water.
The pier is home to the Southern Section Headquarters of the Los Angeles County Lifeguards, and a quick rescue ensued. Ocean Lifeguard Specialist Tyler Morgan was the first in the water, jumping off the pier to rescue her. Morgan kept the woman afloat with his lifeguard can until he was joined by lifeguards Greg Crum, who paddled out on a paddleboard, and Sean Gudmanson.
“They were on her right away,” Kaiser said. “I saw them carrying her in on her side.”
Two other lifeguards and the Baywatch Redondo boat responded. A Baywatch guard jumped into the water, and lifeguards considered loading the woman into the Baywatch boat, but were close enough to shore that they chose to bring her in directly, rather than ride back to Redondo for docking.
Morgan said that the woman was conscious and breathing when he got to her, but did not respond to his questions. Once the woman was brought ashore, lifeguards realized that the woman spoke Cantonese but no English. As lifeguards handed the woman off to Hermosa Beach firefighters, several people, who were thought to have accompanied the woman, helped translate.
The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment, said Fire Engineer Aaron Marks. Marks could not reveal what, if any, injuries the woman had suffered.
Although some beachgoers initially told lifeguards that the woman fell in the water, they believe that she jumped, in part because it would be difficult to fall over the pier’s high railing. Jumping off a pier is an infraction under the city’s municipal code, but lifeguards said that police were not intent on citing the woman.
The Hermosa Beach Police Department’s watch commander was not immediately available to answer questions about the incident.
