‘His legs looked like hamburger’
UCSB student rescued from pounding surf off Isla Vista.

By David Downs
South Coast Beacon

Dead week and finals brutalize UCSB students every quarter, but it was a walk along the beach after the end of instruction this year that nearly drowned a freshman.

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital released UCSB’s Ryan Jeschian, on Dec. 12 with massive cuts and bruises, but in relatively good condition a day after the 18-year-old nearly drowned in rough surf along the cliffs below Isla Vista.

Jeschian said he had been up all night Wednesday after his finals and decided to take a walk along the beach below the cliffs of Del Playa drive around 8 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 11. However, winter swells topping 10 feet and breaking close to shore sent walls of whitewater charging at the cliff faces.

At first, Jeschian dodged the whitewater, moving from high ground to high ground along the beach. But the tide rose, waves came in faster and he started getting pounded into the cliff face, he said. A friend attempted a rescue, but nearly drowned before calling the authorities.

“I had no idea they were even coming,” said Jeschian.

Santa Barbara County Fire Captain Charlie Johnson said several agencies scrambled to save the student. Rescue divers took off from Goleta Beach in a jet ski and sped toward the breakers offshore as Jeschian battled the surf.

Once in the water, the divers had to swim through the treacherous break to Jeschian, secure him and swim back out. The waves pounding against the cliff had torn off the student’s pants, and after nearly an hour in the 50-degree water, he was losing consciousness.

“His legs looked like hamburger,” said Capt. Johnson. “I don’t think it was a question of how much longer he could stay out there. He was physically and mentally unable to do anything for himself. There were large patches of kelp right at the surf line. If he had gotten knocked down and pulled under, he would’ve been gone.”

Search and rescue divers used the backwash from the waves hitting the cliffs to push back out into open water. Once back ashore at Goleta Beach, his rescuers transported Jeschian to an ambulance waiting there.

On Friday, Jeschian said his legs were sore and swollen and he was still groggy, but otherwise OK. He has no memory of the rescue Thursday. He said he’s happy to go home to Granite Bay, in Northern California. His mother drove down Friday to pick him up for Christmas.

Capt. Johnson said Jeschian’s was a textbook rescue where, fortunately, all the pieces came together perfectly.

“This is what we trained for. The crew can be really proud of the work,” he said.