Witnesses Rush To Rescue Of Jet Skiers Who Slammed Into Dock At Dana Point Harbor
DANA POINT (CBSLA.com) — An Orange County father and son are recovering Friday night after their Jet Ski slammed into a dock at the Dana Point Harbor.
"It was an incredibly loud crash," said Alex Pocock, who had just started serving a crowd when the crash happened in front of Watermans Restaurant on Thursday.
It was then Harbor Patrol said the man and his son had lost control of their personal water craft.
"We hopped over the fence and another one of the guests that I was waiting on and also was the first person over the fence," Pocock said. "The guest was actually the first person into the water helping the father."
As the guest and another waiter jumped in to help the son, Pocock and others focused on pulling the unconscious father out of the water.
"The father was right next to the dock so I held onto him and pulled him out of the water to keep his head up," he said. "Other people came and joined and helped me pull him out while I kept his neck steady."
Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol says when the father regained consciousness, he told them he had just purchased the Jet Ski and took it out the day before for the first time.
The throttle, he said, malfunctioned and accelerated.
Pocock says he was amazed how many customers and staff dropped everything to help.
"It's pretty spectacular how fast people react to an accident like this," he said. "There were so many people that immediately ran out."
Harbor Patrol says the water craft was going at least 25 miles per hour when it struck the dock. Both the father and the son were kept for observation overnight at a hospital.
Neither sustained broken bones or serious injuries.
