A 30-year-old man nearly drowned at Main Beach in East Hampton Village on Thursday afternoon, June 20, and was saved by a bystander, according to East Hampton Village Police.
Chief Jerry Larsen Jr. said in a press release that the department received a call about a swimmer in distress at Main Beach at 4:36 p.m. When officers arrived at the scene, Juan Carlos Salvana of Long Island City was unconscious at the edge of the surf, was not breathing and had no pulse, he said.
Police officers and Dr. Louis Cohen, another bystander, performed CPR on Mr. Salvana until the East Hampton Village Ambulance arrived and transported him to Southampton Hospital. The bystander who swam out into the ocean and pulled Mr. Salvana to shore was Bill Roberson of Michigan, Chief Larsen said.
“We were lucky, because there was no lifeguard on duty, and lucky that the man from Michigan pulled the victim out of the water and the police happened to be right there,” the chief said.
Mr. Salvana was in critical but stable condition—but not breathing on his own and in an induced coma—on Friday, according to the chief. By Sunday, he was released from the hospital.
