
The other half of the man and wife owners of Tisa’s Barefoot Bar, Candyman, laments that the US Army man who drowned yesterday off Alega Beach, couldn’t be saved.
While witnesses at the beach yesterday are calling him a hero, Candyman is wondering what he and other rescuers could have done different.
This was the 149th incident that Candyman has had to respond to in the more than 20 years he’s lived at Alega.
The victim, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of his family, was with a group of US Army personnel who were swimming and snorkeling at Alega Beach yesterday.
Candyman and Tisa say the group was never served alcohol at their bar before they went out.
Candyman was in the kitchen cooking when one of the group who made it back to shore approached and said they “may need his help out there.”
He paddled out and saw on the reef one of the men in the group holding another person as if in a bear hug.
But Candman said there was no yelling or screaming for help or any signs that there was an emergency.
When he reached the area where he had seen the group standing, the individual in the bear hug had been swept off the edge of the reef where the sea drops about 50 feet and deeper.
The person was saying, “I lost him, I lost him,” an apparent reference to the person he had been holding.
Candyman said he ripped the snorkels off this man’s face, put it on and took a dive.
He said he could see the missing member of the group lying face down at the bottom, where he was trapped by a rock.
His instincts told him he had a short time to get the Army man back to the surface.
An experienced diver, Candyman said he tried four times and was unsuccessful.
He then prayed to the spirits of Alega for help in saving this young man.
Candyman said he ventilated quickly and then took a dive.
He told KHJ News she blacked out as he was going down…and when he came to he was lying next to the missing man.
He said he knew if he didn’t act quickly he would be gone too.
Coming up to the surface, Candyman said he thought he wasn’t going to make it as the body was heavy and he was running out of breath.
Fortuntely he made it.
Candyman said he saw that the victim’s body was already purple but he never gave up hope that he could be saved.
He and some helpers were able to get the body to shore within a few minutes and applied CPR for about 15 minutes.
Candyman said the young man coughed up water , which is usually a good sign.
I really thought he was going to live.
At that point Candyman was already bleeding through the nose and was losing consciousness due to the bends.
Marine Patrol and police had already arrived and two ambulances rushed the drowning victim and Candyman to the hospital.
Candyman was later to learn that the victim died enroute to the hospital.
Candyman said this was a sad tragedy and their hearts go out to the parents of the victim.
He and Tisa thank all those who helped yesterday including the DPS marine patrol unit, the boss of McConnell Dowell and others who they were unable to identify but who know who they are.