Lifeguards at a Florida beach rescued an unusual struggling swimmer from the Atlantic Ocean: a white-tailed deer.
Flagler Beach senior lifeguard Chase Hunter and first-year lifeguard Leo Peters rushed into the water on Sunday when the deer was spotted struggling in the rough waters during a heavy rain.
Hunter was able to pull the deer onto a rescue board and the rescuers, assisted by a Flagler Beach firefighter, safely returned the animal to shore.
“I was just holding on to the deer as hard as I could,” Hunter told WOFL-TV. “It’s fighting. It’s heavy. I’m tired. Everybody’s tired. But in my mind, I was telling myself, we’re getting this deer in one way or the other.”
It was unclear how long the deer had been in the water or how far it had traveled.
The deer was able to walk and was released back into the wild a short distance from the beach.
Flagler Beach Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Cox said it was the first time in his 15 years of service that he had heard of a deer being rescued from the ocean.
