Drowning prevented by nearby friends

Connie O'Connor

Special to the Village News

I was as close to death as I want to be before the inevitable. The quick response of my friends, Kat and Fred, saved me literally a few seconds from drowning in two feet of water on the shoreline of Oceanside.

The Easter Day surf was not particularly rough. There were many swimmers practicing for the next weekend's triathlon (April 7), but they were complaining about the pulling currents which were carrying them all out.

Surveying the swells, I selected an area with the smaller waves as I was trying out my brand new 9'8" surfboard. Yes, I am a 69 yea...