AirTag helps locate Labrador swept out to sea as lifeguards pull off miraculous rescue
A black lab-mix who disappeared in San Diego was rescued after authorities found her swept out to sea by a rip current.
A surfer at Ocean Beach alerted the San Diego Fire Department lifeguards Sunday that he saw a dog in the Mission Bay channel, launching an hour long search with jet skis to get her back to shore, the San Diego Fire Department said in a Facebook video.
According to a social media post, Sadie, 5, escaped from a house in San Diego during a football game, where her parents tracked her to Ocean Beach with the AirTag on her collar.
Lifeguard Garrett Smerdon, who assisted in the rescue, said in the video that emergency responders at the beach were determined to find and save Sadie.
"We kind of huddled up and said that, you know, there's a good chance that Sadie was still alive. Just a five-year-old lab. They're fighters," Smerdon said.
The hour-long search for Sadie had just been called off when rescuers spotted her in the water, according to the fire department.
"After an extensive search with no sightings, lifeguards began making their way back in—until a miracle happened. Jet Ski 2 spotted the dog about a half-mile offshore near South Mission Beach. Lifeguards raced out to get her, transferring the frightened pup to a surf boat crew that brought her back to Lifeguard HQ, where she was reunited with her very relieved owners," the Facebook post reads.
Sadie was then tearfully reunited on the beach with her owners.
Lifeguard Jack Alldredge, who saw Sadie in the water, said he was glad Sadie was safely saved.
"We got closer and closer, and we realized it was her. And we were pretty excited," Alldredge said in the fire department's video. "We just really wanted a happy ending, and we're glad that Sadie got to go back home and, you know, survive this pretty traumatic event."
