Zachary Johnson Haugen

Zachary Johnson Haugen helped rescue Thanya Huerta and a girl from drowning, San Diego, California, July 3, 2020. Huerta, 18, and the girl, 11, were swept by 5-foot waves during a rising tide from a low-lying rocky point into a cove of the Pacific Ocean. Haugen, 16, student, saw the pair in distress and jumped from the cliff into the cove. He swam to Huerta and the girl and, grasping the girl with one arm as she clung to his waist, Haugen swam with the other arm along the cove’s rocky northern edge toward a low-lying point where he could help Huerta and the girl from the water. While stopping to rest and readjust his grasp on the girl, a large wave separated Haugen from the girl and knocked him onto a rocky barrier near the back of the cove where he became stranded. Haugen called to his friend, who was standing on the cliffs above, and told him to help Huerta and the girl. The friend jumped into the cove and swam across it, reaching Huerta and the girl. Placing the girl on his back with her grasping his neck, the friend swam along the rocky coast, both coaxing and intermittently supporting Huerta who later reported she was in and out of consciousness from swallowing water. Reaching a low-lying ledge, the friend pushed the girl onto the ledge. The friend then exited and, standing on the ledge, attempted to pull Huerta from the water. Unable to do that, he repositioned himself and grasped Huerta’s arms, holding her above the surface of the until life guards arrived. Huerta and the girl were treated and released at a hospital for the effects of swallowing water and recovered; and Huerta suffered a head injury and shortly recovered. Haugen was assisted from the rocky barrier by his friend and life guards assisted them to safety. Haugen was tired and suffered scratches, but recovered.