An Orange County man who was pulled from a powerful rip current this month reunited with the two lifeguards who saved him and two children, one of more than 500 rescues made in a 10-day span amid strong swells along the Southern California coast.
Marcelo DeFreitas said he and his 12-year-old son, along with his son’s 12-year-old friend, were caught Sunday in what he described as a rip current “like a monster pulling him underwater” near Upper Jetties.
“I would say that was a near-death experience,” he said. “I couldn’t swim anymore. If he would have got to me maybe five seconds later, I probably wouldn’t have been above water because I was just exhausted. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t catch my breath. It was very overwhelming.”…