Save family of six....

Surfers raced into ‘crazy’ Santa Cruz surf to save family of six

By Olivia Hebert

A boat barreled into the breaking surf off West Cliff Drive late Saturday morning, sending a family of six, including four children, into the water.

Within moments, several surfers frantically paddled toward them, including three-time Mavericks competition winner and big wave surfer Darryl “Flea” Virostko.

“Crazy situation yesterday,” Virostko wrote on Instagram. “I saw the boat coming as I was outside dodging a big middle peak set. He zoomed by me and I saw he had his family on the boat. As I watched him drive straight into a big white wash I knew they went down and it was time to paddle in as quickly as possible to help save the family.” 

Virostko described arriving at what he called a “yard sale” of debris in the water as another surfer, Mike Dilloughery, tried to keep the parents afloat. They were not wearing life vests. 

“I put the dad on my board, and [Mike] took the mom,” Virostko recalled. “We had sets on the head and the board was about 20ft outside of us with waves coming. Very sketchy.” 

Virotsko said the father was “freaking out asking about all the kids” as surfers shouted across the lineup to locate children. “All kids got saved,” Virotsko wrote.

At 11:45 a.m. on Feb. 7, Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 received reports of a "Confirmed Water Rescue to West Cliff Drive," according to a news release from the Santa Cruz Fire Department. Callers reported that a boat had capsized in heavy surf with multiple people in the water. 

“Due to the rapid deployment of Santa Cruz Fire Marine Rescue Swimmers, City Lifeguards, State Parks, and several Good Samaritan citizens on surfboards, all 6 victims were successfully rescued from this potentially tragic incident,” the department said.

Fire crews and city lifeguards used rescue boards to reach the surfers while additional agencies were summoned to the shoreline. The family was brought into Santa Cruz Harbor, where fire crews and paramedics provided medical care before transporting all six to a local hospital. 

Briefly, authorities searched for a possible seventh victim, deploying a State Parks watercraft and drones from fire and police agencies before confirming no additional person was missing.