Huntington Beach : Surfer May Have Died From Drowning or Blow
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A 22-year-old Long Beach man found unconscious and leashed to his drifting surfboard off Huntington Beach died after a rescue attempt.
A one-inch gash found on Warren Webster’s left temple was believed to have been inflicted by the man’s surfboard, causing a cerebral hemorrhage, Deputy Coroner William King said Thursday, but results of an autopsy could not positively determine whether Webster died by drowning or of the head injury.
Huntington Beach lifeguard Duke Zander and an unidentified surfer spotted Webster’s board floating about 20 feet offshore near 22nd Street early Tuesday afternoon. They swam to it and found Webster, submerged and unconscious, with one ankle still bound by the surfboard’s elastic leash.
Zander and an off-duty paramedic restored Webster’s pulse on shore, and paramedics put him on a respirator while en route to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. But Webster never regained consciousness before he was pronounced dead about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Safety officials at the beach said there were no known witnesses to the incident.
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