Zachary Sjosward

Zachary Sjosward rescued two men from drowning, Seaside Park, New Jersey, September 13, 2022. In the afternoon at low tide, two adult male friends were fishing in the Atlantic Ocean off Island Beach State Park when a strong current pulled them away from the nearby beach, which was in a designated fishing area and not overseen by lifeguards. The men drifted apart and struggled to remain afloat. Their friend, Sjosward, 25, off-duty police officer, saw the men in distress, collected a bodyboard from a truck, and entered the water with the board’s strap secured to his wrist. As he swam toward the first friend, who was closer to shore, a wave broke the bodyboard cord, and Sjosward continued to the man without it. Sjosward grasped the man and guided him into wadable water, and the man continued under his own power to shore. Sjosward then swam to the second friend, who by then was motionless. Sjosward grasped him and brought him into wadable water, then dragged him to the beach. Arriving first-responders took both men, whose breathing was labored, to a hospital. Both ultimately recovered. Sjosward was not injured.