Man Dies Near Ladies Beach After Being Pulled Unresponsive From Surf

A 31-year-old man died Saturday just east of Ladies Beach after he was pulled unresponsive out of the water by a surfer and island lifeguards. The man was not immediately identified, nor was the cause of his death.

First responders were alerted to a "critical situation at Ladies Beach" just after 4 p.m., according to Nantucket Fire Department chief Michael Cranson.

"Nantucket lifeguards acted swiftly, immediately initiating lifesaving measures upon removing the 31-year-old male from the water," Cranson said in a statement released Saturday night. "The Nantucket Fire Department (NFD) arrived on the scene at 4:22 p.m. and worked in close coordination with the lifeguards. NFD personnel began advanced life support procedures and quickly transported the patient to a waiting ambulance. The patient was then transported to Nantucket Cottage Hospital. Despite the best efforts of both the Nantucket lifeguards and the NFD, the patient unfortunately died. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends during this difficult time."

The man's brother-in-law, Jack McGowan, contacted the Current on Sunday morning asking for assistance in identifying the surfer who had helped his brother-in-law at the scene.

"Yesterday at Ladies Beach, my brother-in-law passed away," McGowan stated. "Luckily during the situation, there was a surfer in the water that was able to get to him and tried to save him before the lifeguards arrived. My sister and family would very much like to find out who he was so that we can thank him. He had dark brown hair tan skin and I believe some black facial hair and an orange board. If anyone has any information or may know him please reach out. Thank you to the lifeguards, EMTs, and beachgoers who sprung to action to help. We very much appreciate it."

Earlier in the day, the town had closed all south shore beaches to swimming due to the rough conditions, urging beachgoers to head to the north shore of the island. Lifeguards were flying double red flags at their stands across the south shore, indicating that swimming was prohibited at the guarded beaches. 

The beach access point where the incident occurred - beach No. 13C - is unguarded, but is a short distance away from Ladies Beach which had lifeguards on duty.

Harbormaster Sheila Lucey said those lifeguards left their stand and responded immediately after the 911 call regarding a swimmer in distress.

"The guards from Ladies Beach and the ATVs all responded, and when they got on scene they saw there were a couple of beach patrons helping this man stay afloat," Lucey said. "The guards went in the water and pulled him out with the help of the patrons and once they got him up on the beach, they realized he was unresponsive, called immediately for EMS, and began compressions and lifesaving efforts until the fire department arrived."

Lucey said it was not clear if the man had been swimming or surfing, but there was no surfboard or boogie board recovered at the beach.

"We're unsure of what he ran into, but we don't really believe it was a rip current," Lucey said. "It may have been some other medical condition, but we're unsure of that."

It marked the third death at island beaches since July 20th, when a participant at the Nantucket Triathlon was pulled unresponsive from the waters at Jetties Beach and later passed away. Then on August 6th, an 80-year-old man died at Miacomet Beach after he was found by beachgoers unresponsive in the surf.

"This is unprecedented and it's tragic," Lucey said. "I can't remember where we've had three in the span of 20 days. It's just extremely tragic. In each case, we did everything we could to the best of our abilities and gave every one of them the best we had to save them."