Surfer Dies; May Have Hit Head
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A 49-year-old man visiting from Great Britain died Friday, possibly after hitting his head on a pylon while bodysurfing just west of Balboa Pier.
Police did not release his name, pending notification of relatives.
“It was witnessed by lots of people,” Lt. Mike McDermott, a spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department, said of the 3:45 p.m. incident. “One of his friends saw him floating in the water under the pier. He went out and grabbed him, but he was unconscious and unresponsive and had some sort of scrape on his head.”
The man was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, where he was pronounced dead. “It was possibly a drowning or a broken neck,” McDermott said. “There were signs of trauma, and one witness reported seeing him hit a pylon.”
The cause of death is being investigated by the Orange County coroner’s office, McDermott said.
The man’s death occurred just three days after a Newport Beach man’s body was found floating about 100 yards off Huntington Beach. Police called it a probable drowning.
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