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Firefighters, Good Samaritans Rescue Swimmer In Distress On Jersey Shore

A surfer, his friend and two firefighters rescued a swimmer in distress off the Jersey Shore on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Cecilia Levine
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The surfer Zeke Orzech was flagged down by his friend Steve Markel as he was driving past the Stone Harbor fire station around 10:30 a.m., getting ready to call it a day, according to Orzech and the local fire department.

Zeke Orzech walking with his paddle board, right, and the swimmer on a fire department jet ski headed back to shore.

Zeke Orzech

The pair made it to the victim at 102nd Street on their paddle and surf boards, just before police and firefighters arrived. Orzech said the victim was screaming and had gotten caught in a rip current. 

He stabilized himself on one of the boards before firefighters Eric Staeger and Lou Donofrio III got him to shore. Firefighters from Stone Harbor entered the water alongside a Stone Harbor police officer, the fire department said.

The victim was treated and taken to Cape Regional by Ambulance 13. 

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