Pacific Coast Surf Rescue

12-year-old boy who spent as long as 20 minutes immersed in the Pacific Ocean surf

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

LONG BEACH, Wash. (AP) — A 12-year-old boy who spent as long as 20 minutes immersed in the Pacific Ocean surf before he was rescued is amazing his family.

"Maybe there is a miracle that's happening here," the boy's father, Chad Ostrander of Spanaway, Wash., told reporters Tuesday.

Charles "Dale" Ostrander was visiting the southwest Washington coast with members of his church youth group last Friday when he was caught in a riptide north of Long Beach.

Doug Knutzen is part of the volunteer surf rescue team that spotted the boy in the water. When Knutzen carried Dale from the surf and handed him to medics, the veteran rescuer feared the worst.

"I've been doing this since 1978," Knutzen told The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/pOM33k ). "It's something you never get used to, but I knew that the boy was gone, absolutely gone."

Recording the scene was Damian Mulinix, a photographer from the Chinook Observer newspaper who had responded to the beach rescue. He says the other children from the church group sobbed and prayed.

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Pacific Surf Rescue

Members of the Bethel Baptist Church youth group gather and pray along the shore of the Cranberry Rd. beach approach in Long Beach, Wa., during the search for their classmate Dale Ostrander Friday afternoon, Aug. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Damian Mulinix/Chinook Observer)

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Wash. Boy Pulled Lifeless from Ocean Out of ICU

Pacific Surf Rescue

Surf rescue swimmers Eddie Mendez and Will Green pull Dale Ostrander aboard their jet ski after finding him in the surf off the Cranberry Rd. beach approach near Long Beach, Wash+., Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. The team searched for the boy for nearly 15 minutes before locating him. (AP Photo/Damian Mulinix/Chinook Observer)

This gallery appears with:

Wash. Boy Pulled Lifeless from Ocean Out of ICU

Pacific Surf Rescue

Surf rescue swimmer Doug Knutzen carries Dale Ostrander to the shore of the Cranberry Rd. beach approach Friday Aug. 5, 2011, in Long Beach, Wash. Rescue swimmers Eddie Mendez, left, and Will Green found him Ostrander in the surf. The boy was under water for up to 20 minutes, and is now hospitalized and conscious. (AP Photo/Damian Mulinax/Chinook Observer)

This gallery appears with:

Wash. Boy Pulled Lifeless from Ocean Out of ICU

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