4 surfers help rescue 2 teenage girls who fell into water during Hurricane Hanna
FREEPORT, Texas (KTRK) -- Four surfers rescued two teenage girls who were swept off a jetty while taking pictures of the waves during Hurricane Hanna.
A 68-year-old surfer heard the girls' cries for help as they were pulled into the dangerous rip currents that was caused by the category 1 storm making landfall in south Texas.
"All of a sudden, I heard, 'Help, help,'" said Johnny McGee. "And I looked over, and there were two young girls in the water."
He made his way toward them in the rough water and told ABC13 he may have arrived just in time.
"They'd been trying to swim back, but the pull and the currents were too strong," McGee said. "One of them said, 'I can't swim no more. I'm too tired.'"
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The girls grabbed McGee's surfboard but couldn't get anywhere, so he improvised.
"I had them hang onto my legs," he said. "One on one side, the other on the other leg, and I started paddling."
After about 20 minutes, they were still nowhere close to shore.
"That's when I saw a guy on the jetty and told him to get help," McGee said.
READ ALSO: Hanna causes partial collapse of popular pier in south Texas
Another surfer, Thomas Saucedo, was also in the water to help, and two more surfers joined in. Together, they were able to help rescue the girls.
McGee said this was his first water rescue, even though he's been surfing for almost 55 years.
"I was in the right place at the right time," he said. "Nobody knows the water better than surfers."
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