AFP photo
WASHINGTON鈥擜 young lifeguard in Florida has lost his job after rescuing a drowning man in a section of beach he was not assigned to patrol, local news media reported Wednesday.
Tomas Lopez, 21, was manning his post on Hallandale Beach, north of Miami, on Monday afternoon when a beach-goer alerted him to a swimmer struggling in an 鈥渦nprotected鈥� part of the beach.
鈥淚t was a long run, but someone needed my help. I wasn鈥檛 going to say no,鈥� said Lopez, quoted by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper and WFOR television on their websites ( and ).
The unidentified man was rescued, then rushed to hospital where he remains in intensive care.
But when Lopez went to file an incident report, he was fired for going 500 yards (meters) out of his assigned area.
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 tell me in a bad way. It was more like they were 鈥榮orry, but rules are rules,'鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe what was happening.鈥�
鈥淲e have liability issues and can鈥檛 go out of the protected area,鈥� explained a supervisor for the private contractor that supplies lifeguards for Hallandale Beach, a popular destination for Canadian winter holiday makers.
鈥淲hat he did was his own decision. He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do.鈥�
No longer in a job that pays $8.25 (6.60 euros) an hour, Lopez said he would do what he did again if he had to. 鈥淚t was the moral thing to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would never pick a job over my morals.鈥�