Doctor’s death prompts Highland Beach to begin a surf warning campaign
By Rich Pollack
Following the apparent drowning of a resident who got caught in a strong rip current, Highland Beach town leaders are planning steps to ensure that residents and visitors alike are informed about current beach conditions.
Town Manager Marshall Labadie said the town plans to place colored beach condition flags at three locations: the entrances on the north and south ends as well as in front of the fire station in the central part of town.
In addition, he said the town — which has all private beaches and no public access — will be including daily announcements about beach conditions on its website and app.
“We want to have a physical and digital presence,” he said. “We’re working out the details now.”
The decision to implement a beach condition information plan came within days of the April 4 death of a 77-year-old swimmer, Dr. Samuel Lang, off the 4100 block of South Ocean Boulevard.
Highland Beach first responders said Lang was swimming in the ocean by himself when a bystander saw him at around 3:30 p.m. struggling in the very rough seas about 250 yards offshore.
The bystander said he got on a paddleboard but was unable to locate the swimmer, according to a Highland Beach Fire Rescue report.
A call to 911 then triggered an intensive search that included public safety personnel from Boca Raton and Delray Beach. As part of the search, Highland Beach Fire Rescue had personnel with binoculars on nearby residential balconies as well as on the dune line and at the shoreline.
Highland Beach police and Delray Beach police assisted with the search, as did Boca Raton Fire Rescue, which had a fire boat on scene to help locate the missing swimmer.
After several minutes, Lang was located in the water about 0.3 miles north of where he was first seen. Fire rescue personnel took him from the ocean and medical treatment was started before he was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
All beaches in Highland Beach are private, with no lifeguards monitoring swimmers, and town fire rescue personnel have limited access to the beach.
Labadie said beach condition information could be provided by the city of Boca Raton, while the placement of the flags daily could fall on members of the fire rescue staff or other town personnel.
A second phase of the effort to educate residents about beach conditions could include flags at nine beach entry points or at several locations where there are bucket trees and trash cans.
How those flags would be put up every day and who would be responsible for that effort is still being explored.
Lang, according to an obituary in the Times-Journal of Fort Payne, Alabama, where he grew up, spent nearly 40 years in New York as an accomplished heart surgeon at several hospitals and served as chief of thoracic surgery at two of them.
He was known, according to the obituary, for success with high-risk patients and was a support physician during 9/11 and the pandemic.
Several other incidents related to rough seas occurred in Palm Beach County during the early part of April, including the death of a 46-year-old visitor from Maine who was attempting to rescue his children from a rip current along the coast in northern Palm Beach County. The children were saved.
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