LI Lifeguards To Be Honored For Saving Man's Life

FIRE ISLAND, NY — Town of Islip lifeguards will be honored at an Islip Town Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 12, for saving a man's life on Fire Island earlier this summer.

On Aug. 3, 65-year-old Wally Smith of Huntington Woods, MI, collapsed on the beach while wading into the ocean during an annual family vacation to Fair Harbor and Town of Islip lifeguards jumped into action.

On the scene were lifeguards Mary Kaplan and Steve Hourigan, who performed CPR/AED, along with lifeguards Ronald Ross, Abigail Claps, Evan Byrnes and Tristan Weingarten.

Smith was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, where doctors said the chance of survival for this medical event is 6 percent.

He was discharged four days later and reunited with the lifeguards who saved his life.

In a statement, officials said, "It was a team effort by the Fair Harbor West crew."