- If only everybody took their job as seriously as this heroic lifeguard.
A musclebound lifeguard runs along the beach with a rescue board in hand. Bravely, he dives into the rolling waves and starts swimming towards a helpless, drowning…
Deer.
Baywatch took a bit of a different turn on Florida beach this week when lifeguards noticed a struggling swimmer out in the open water. This swimmer, however, was a female deer that had somehow gotten swept out to the ocean.
To the lifeguards, though, it didn’t matter. Their job is to save lives, whether human or deer, so two of them rushed out to help the doe in distress.
It was no easy task. While a hunky rescuer’s presence may have calmed a person, the doe didn’t care and started struggling against the lifeguards just as much as it did against the waves.
And then the sharks showed up.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. After a long swim, the lifeguards and local firemen helped the deer get back into the woods.
You can’t help but respect these guys’ dedication to their mission.
‘We Have a Job to Do’
The drowning deer incident happened on July 6 in Flagler Beach, roughly halfway between Jacksonville and Orlando. On the day, senior lifeguard Chase Hunter heard someone screaming out on the water.
Before we continue, can we take a moment to appreciate this guy’s name? He’s a badass from the start.
Looking out to the sea, Hunter quickly spotted the damsel in distress. It wasn’t a human lady, though, but a deer.
How it got washed out into the ocean and how long it had been in the water, nobody knows. To Hunter, however, all of that — including the species of the individual in trouble — didn’t matter one bit.
“We have a job to do,” Hunter told Fox 35 Orlando. “We save lives — whether it’s a human life or, in this case, a deer.”
And so, Hunter grabbed his rescue board and dove into the waves.
Deer ‘Yell Loud’
It wasn’t easy for Hunter to swim to the deer. The wind was strong on the day, and the waves were consequently high and choppy.
Eventually, Hunter reached the drowning animal, but it didn’t prove particularly cooperative. Although he was able to pull the deer onto the rescue board, it kept struggling against him all the while.
For lack of better things to do, Hunter tried talking to the deer, telling it that he was there to help. It might’ve worked on a human, but sweettalking did nothing for the deer.
At this point, however, Hunter got help. First-year lifeguard Leo Peters swam up to Hunter and began helping him push the screaming deer toward the shore.
Oh, and it was screaming.
“I had never heard a deer before, and they yell. They yell loud,” Peters recalled afterward.
“When I got out there, I thought Chase was the one screaming.”
It wasn’t, but perhaps he would’ve had reason to be screaming. The commotion in the water, after all, had reportedly attracted two sharks that started circling the lifeguards and the deer.
Yet, they weren’t about to give up.
“I was just holding on to the deer as hard as I could … I was telling myself, ‘We’re getting this deer in one way or the other,’” said Hunter.
‘Extremely Proud of Them’
Finally, Hunter and Peters got close enough to the shore that their feet could reach the bottom. Still holding the tired but struggling deer, they carried it out of the waves.
A local fireman also arrived at the scene. His help was needed, because the rescuers weren’t done quite yet.
Although the deer was out of the waves and able to walk, there was one more obstacle. The nearest wooded area was on the other side of the busy highway running along the beach.
Together, Hunter, Peters, and the unidentified fireman dragged the deer to the forest. There, they finally let it go, and it wandered off into the trees.
Wildlife officials later confirmed that Hunter and the others made the right call with releasing the deer. It didn’t seem obviously hurt, so the best choice was to let it go back home.
Later on, Flagler Beach Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Cox said he’d never heard of an incident like this during his 15 years on the job. Still, he had nothing but praise for Hunter and Peters.
“We’re extremely proud of them — not only for their concern for public safety, but for the environment as well,” said Cox.