A Guardia Civil agent threw himself into the sea at Cala Tarida to rescue a fisherman who was drowning.
Sergeant Ismael Moreno, aged 44 has spent 26 of those years in service. “One seems to be preparing all his life for a moment like yesterday’s.”
The incident occurred at about 6pm in the evening, when Guardia Civil received a warning from the 112 emergency number, about a person drowning in the sea near Cala Tarida.
The victim, a man in his 50’s was fishing with a friend when he lost some of his belongings to the sea. The man attempted to retrieve his personal effects when a wave dragged him offshore, the sea taking him around 100 metres out.
Heroic Action
When the Guardia Civil patrol arrived, “Sergeant Ismael Moreno took off his clothes and threw himself into the water to try to rescue the man while the other troops asked for support for the rescue of both,” explained the Guardia Civil.
Once in the water, Sergeant Moreno had to stop several times to listen for the victim, the rescue made more difficult due to the state of the sea following the storm, the temperature of the water and the darkness.
“When the worst was feared, I heard the man cry out for help,” Moreno said. “Little by little, stopping from time to time for the man to rest, because he had swallowed a lot of water, we reached the shore,” Moreno recalled.
Aiding The Rescue
Another agent had entered the water to assist both the men onto land. The rescue lasted over half an hour and was aided by citizen security patrols that illuminated the coastline with torches to give the Sergeant the safest point of entry to the sea as well as guiding him to the victim.
Furthermore, a lifeguard was located in a nearby farm and assisted both the sergeant and fisherman.
The fisherman was taken to hospital and is reportedly ‘doing well’. Sergeant Moreno suffered the symptoms of hypothermia, but is fine and feeling “very satisfied”.
Colleagues of the Ismael Moreno acknowledged “the sergeant had a really heroic attitude”.
