15-Year-Old Dies, 4 Others Hospitalized After NJ Beach Rescue

SANDY HOOK, NJ - A 15-year-old boy died and five others were hospitalized after being rescued from the ocean at a Sandy Hook beach Sunday afternoon, officials said.

Six people in total were rescued from Beach B, part of Sandy Hook’s Gateway National Recreation Area, at around 4:30 p.m., National Park Service spokesperson Daphne Yun told Patch. The beach was not guarded by lifeguards at the time, Yun said.

Following the rescue, two people were sent to Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune Township and three others were sent to Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. The 15-year-old, who was transported to Monmouth Medical Center, died after arrival, Yun said. A sixth person refused medical attention.

National Park Service staff were assisted by Sea Bright, Highlands, and Monmouth first responders in the rescue, Yun said.

Sunday's incident at the unguarded beach marked the first rescue at the Gateway National Recreation Area this year, Yun added. Of roughly a dozen drowning deaths reported in 2022, at least 10 happened when victims were also swimming at unguarded beaches, Patch previously reported.

Beaches G, D, and C beaches at the recreation area are lifeguarded, with patrols on duty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Yun said.

"You can talk until you're blue in [the] face, the average person doesn't understand how dangerous Mother Nature can be," Jay Boyd, chief of the Seaside Heights Beach Patrol (which patrols one of the busiest beaches in the state), previously told Patch. People are uneducated about rip currents, and they don't understand how quickly your muscles will tire when the water temperatures are 60 degrees or colder, he said.

"All it takes is swimming in the wrong area, and you step in a hole and don't know how to get out," Boyd said.

Last year’s drowning deaths at New Jersey beaches even prompted a Monmouth County assemblyman calling for water safety instruction to be added as a mandatory element of the state Department of Education health and physical education curriculum.

Bill A618, introduced in 2022 by Sean Kean (R-30) and Nancy Munoz (R-21), has remained in committee since it was introduced. A similar bill was introduced in 2020, but didn’t make it any further in the state Assembly than its 2022 iteration.

- With additional reporting by Karen Wall.