Update on 1/23/05:The surfer that drowned was identified as 33-year-old Sean O'Flaherty Fahey, who lived in San Francisco. Unfortunately, paramedics were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The cause of the accident is still unknown.

(1/22/06) At approximately 10 AM on Sunday, January 22, 2006, an approximately 30-year-old male wearing a wetsuit washed up at the foot of Sloat Boulevard at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. A woman found the man face down in the shore break, and she immediately yelled for help. Several surfers ran down from the parking lot to help, including one that's a nurse practitioner. The medical professional (who asked to be identified only upon request of family or friends of the victim- or by the authorities) performed CPR on the victim for approximately 20 minutes before an ambulance arrived. The paramedics continued resuscitation attempts for at least another 10 minutes before transporting the person to UCSF Hospital. It's unconfirmed whether the victim was revived, but eyewitnesses said it's unlikely.

The victim was described as a male, approximately 30 years of age, short/red hair, blue eyes, very light complexion, toned/medium build- probably 160-170 pounds, and approximately 5'10" to 6'0" tall. He was wearing an all black wetsuit with no booties and no hood. There was no leash attached to his ankle, and no surfboard was found within 1/2 hour or more of the accident. Based on some of the details given to us by a medical professional at the scene, it's possible the surfer had been in the water for an extended period of time- possibly since much earlier that morning. But the cause and exact time of the victim's unconsciousness is unknown at this time.

The waves on the outside bars were approximately 3 feet overhead, and they were breaking hard before mushing out relatively quickly over the middle section. The inside waves were also breaking very hard. A medium, west-northwest swell was running at the time of the incident at 7 feet at 15 seconds. The weather was sunny and cool with a light northerly breeze.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sean's family and friends.