By Alex Napoliello | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
A U.S. Coast Guard boat patrols the ocean off the 8th Avenue beach in Belmar in this September 2010 file photo. (Tony Kurdzuk | The Star-Ledger)
BELMAR - When Kristian Falkenstein charged into the surf during a particularly treacherous weekend for rip currents at the Jersey Shore last month, his only thought was reaching a swimmer clearly in distress.
He knew help would be coming, but feared the man might not survive until rescuers arrived.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I sat and watched the guy drown knowing I had the ability to do something about it,” said Falkenstein, a trained lifeguard who was playing volleyball on the Fourth Avenue beach in Belmar on Sept. 23.
Falkenstein, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, said he was the first to reach the swimmer who was struggling to stay above water. A Belmar cop and two lifeguards swam out to help, and the U.S. Coast Guard sent out a 29-foot rescue boat to pull everyone from the water.
When they arrived at the Coast Guard station, officials urged him to go to the hospital by ambulance to be evaluated, he said. Falkenstein said his head was spinning and it seemed a good idea at the time.
Until he got the bill.
“I basically saved the guy’s life and they stuck me with a huge ER bill,” he said this week.
Busy weekend of rescues
Falkenstein aided in one of 35 rescues that happened in Belmar during a deadly weekend at the Jersey Shore. By the time the weekend was over, three people died and at least 150 had to be pulled out of the ocean.
Tropical Storm Jose and Hurricane Maria whipped up large waves and life-threatening rip currents along the Jersey Shore. The 80-degree weather on the first weekend of fall drew large crowds to the state’s beaches, but many were not fully staffed with lifeguards or unprotected.
Kristian Falkenstein, 39, of Newtown, Pennsylvania. (Photo courtesy of Kristian Falkenstein)
A Belmar regular
Falkenstein, 39, lives a little more than an hour away from Belmar but he’s a regular.
A season beach pass holder, Falkenstein is an avid volleyball player and spends many of his summer weekends on the sandy courts of the Fourth Avenue beach in Belmar.
Falkenstein is also a certified lifeguard who managed teams of lifeguards at pools and gave swim lessons to kids at the Newtown Athletic Club in his hometown, he said.
“I have a ton of experience in life-guarding,” Falkenstein said.
First sign of trouble
Falkenstein was preparing to serve a volleyball when he noticed a commotion on the beach. He says he saw people pointing toward a man in the water and that “people were frantic, looking to see who can help out.”
“I looked around,” he said, “and there was nobody making any attempts whatsoever. No lifeguards around. No boats out in the water.”
He could see the swimmer was in trouble, Falkenstein said. Help would eventually arrive but the swimmer “was ready to take on water.”
“I knew this guy didn’t have minutes (to wait),” Falkenstein said.
He dove into the ocean and swam to the man. Falkenstein instructed him to stop flailing his arms and got behind him. He says he made sure the man's head was above water until a Belmar police officer got to them with a rescue buoy. Two other lifeguards assisted.
Everyone tried to swim back to the shore, but the large waves were making that difficult, he said. The Coast Guard sent a 29-foot rescue boat from the nearby Shark River station that pulled everyone on board.
"The boat crew recovered all five people from the water and transported them to Station Shark River where local EMS was waiting," the Coast Guard said in a statement.
MORE: 2017 is deadliest for rip currents in N.J. since we began keeping track
A U.S. Coast Guard boat in the Shark River inlet on July 16, 2016. (Kevin Shea | NJ Advance Media)
Back on shore
At the station, Falkenstein concedes he felt disoriented and his heart rate was up.
“I didn’t know where the heck I was,” he said. “I was trying to get in touch with my girlfriend. … I said, ‘Listen, I’m fine.’ But they said, 'The paramedics should check you out.' My pulse was high and I had some water coming out of my system, and the (paramedic) said I had water in my lungs.”
He was told that he could get pneumonia or die in his sleep from a “dry drowning,” he said.
“They really scare you into it,” Falkenstein said.
So he took an ambulance to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. According to an admittance notice provided by Falkenstein, he was diagnosed with “near drowning.” His X-rays and lab tests, however, were negative.
“You have survived an episode of near drowning,” the notice states. “We expect that you will fully recover and have no lasting effects.”
And then the bills came
Falkenstein says the hospital visit generated a bill of $2,587.
He is awaiting bills for the physician, the radiologist and the ambulance ride. Falkenstein has health insurance, he said, but has a $750 deductible, which he hasn't met yet, and a separate $500 deductible for the emergency room visit. He will be required to pay 20 percent of the remaining bills.
"This is going to be a lot of money," he says.
Good Samaritan rules
New Jersey has the good Samaritan statute, which provides immunity from civil liability to off-duty doctors and paramedics, for example, who help someone in need and don't make a grossly negligent error. But that doesn't mean the municipality is on the hook to pay for medical costs like those incurred by Falkenstein, said Bernard W. Bell, a professor at Rutgers University's law school in Newark who specializes in personal injury law.
"Good Samaritan laws don't impose any liability on municipalities to take care of injuries or resulting consequences to the good Samaritan," Bell said.
Belmar Mayor Matthew Doherty, after consulting with the borough's attorney, provided the following statement: "We appreciate his service in attempting to rescue someone in distress but, unfortunately, we're precluded by state law from paying for his medical bills."
A volleyball court on the Fourth Avenue beach in Belmar. (Photo courtesy of Marie Lang)
The following day, Falkenstein was back on the beach in Belmar playing volleyball. He says there was another rescue on the beach nearby and his friends joked with him about helping out again.
“I can’t afford to have another rescue,” he says he told them, jokingly.
But, in all seriousness, he says, “I would do it all over again.”
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Ad Choices