Man pulled from Garden City beach calls rescuer his ‘guardian angel’

GARDEN CITY, S.C. (WBTW) — A man who almost drowned at a Garden City beach on Monday was saved by an off-duty Murrells Inlet-Garden City fire official.

A 60-year-old man from Northern Kentucky, who asked for his name not to be released, said he went into the ocean at about 2 p.m. to cool off. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the emergency room.

He said him and his family got to Garden City on Saturday with plans to stay for the week on vacation. He said luckily, their condo is right next to the Azalea Avenue beach access and across the street from a fire station.

“He was floating a little closer to the lifeguard stand, someone saw, called out and everything was a big blur,” his daughter said.

She said things might’ve been different if the paramedics and lifeguards weren’t close by.

Rob McMahon, an engineer and paramedic with MIGC, was off duty and on the beach with his family the day of the incident. He said he went running when he heard a lady yell “help!” and saw a man floating.

“Me and the lifeguard and a couple other people got him up and onto the shore, started CPR, he coughed a few times, we turned him on his side, got some water out, still didn’t have a pulse,” McMahon said.

McMahon said these actions continued for a couple of minutes before color returned to his body.

“I told my daughters, ‘Hey, call 911,’” he recalled.

McMahon said when the dispatcher didn’t pick up right away, his daughters ran across the street to the fire station to tell them.

The man’s daughter said he was taken to Waccamaw Community Hospital and was transferred to Georgetown. He was released Wednesday night.

“I don’t know what happened. I don’t think we’ll ever know,” the man said. “They’ve ruled out most medical possibilities.”

McMahon said he remembers the waves being rough, breaking at shoulder height.

Both the victim and his family said the community has been incredible. They said the past few days, people have been asking if they’re OK, and some have even dropped off food.

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Jackie LiBrizzi is a multimedia journalist at News13. Jackie is originally from Hamilton, New Jersey, and was raised in Piedmont, South Carolina. Jackie joined the News13 team in June 2023 after she graduated as a student-athlete from the University of South Carolina in May 2023. Follow Jackie on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook , or Instagram , and read more of her work he r e .

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