Good Samaritans Recall Dramatic Water Rescue On Long Island Sound

PORT JEFFERSON, NY — Two good Samaritans recalled on Monday the dramatic group effort that it took to rescue a 70–year-old Long Island man who lost his footing while trying to anchor a boat, and slipped under the water, nearly drowning on Whitehall Beach on Father’s Day.

Police said that Alan Goldberg, of Coram, lost consciousness in the water at about 2:30 p.m., and that "multiple good Samaritans," came to his aid, but they could not verify everyone who was there.

Port Jefferson Station resident Tiffany Martell, who was nearby with her family, said she saw Goldberg go under, dove in, and swam over to where he was as quickly as she could.

"I just dove in thinking that this could have been my child because I was at the beach with my kids," said Martell, 37, adding, "this could be somebody's husband, somebody's father."

Martell said she did the best she could to bring Goldberg to shore, nearly going down three times herself, and once he was on shore, others, including a retired firefighter began cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Frances George, a former lifeguard who was out on the water with this parents, said he was unaware Goldberg had fallen into the water until his mother started screaming, and he dove into the water and then sprinted to shore, jumping in for someone else who needed to swap out from doing chest compressions.

His father, Dr. Karl George, a 65-year-old chiropractor and acupuncturist from East Setauket, followed him to shore and jumped in the rotation to assist with CPR.

"There were almost 20 people helping in any way that they could by swapping in and out to do chest compressions," recalled Frances George, a 30-year-old sailing instructor from Oyster Bay.

When Marine Bureau police officers Cory Kim and Shane Parker arrived, they transferred Goldberg onto a rescue boat, said police, adding that the four continued CPR as Goldberg was brought to the boat ramp in Port Jefferson.

George credited his training as a lifeguard for the Town of Brookhaven and his ongoing wilderness training that he uses as a sailing instructor for his quick response. He said people tend to freeze and do what is called “lighthousing” and he cautioned against that in emergency situations.

“You’re just standing looking back and forth in kind of an odd shock, but it is the people who can think one, two, and three steps ahead that can break out of that shock and either take action or help others,” he added.

Once on shore, Goldberg was taken by an ambulance that had been waiting to take him to St. Charles Hospital, where he was treated for serious injuries, police said.

George described the efforts to save Goldberg as a "horrifying sight."

"There was little hope in my mind that he was going to be resuscitated, but praise God, he was,” said George, adding, that he and his family “are still continuing to pray for him,” so that he returns to his family.

Goldberg's family could not be reached for comment.