Andre Botha: "I Thought He Was Dead"

On Sunday morning at Pipeline Andre Botha saved Evan Geisalman's life. Evan pulled into a heavy closeout while the two-time Bodyboard World Champion watched from the lineup but didn't surface after three waves had passed through. Andre spotted his board tombstoning with no Evan in sight and took action.

Paddling over, he dived down and pulled Evan to the surface. "His face was a dark blue purple colour, his eyes rolled back and he was foaming at the mouth and then his eyes came back with this empty look," recounts Andre. "The closest thing I can compare it to is when I saw my dog get put down. They gave the lethal injection and the eyes just go sort of blank... I was convinced the guy was dead at that point."

Fortunately, Andre's quick thinking administering mouth-to-mouth in the lineup until the North Shore lifeguards could reach them and take over saved Evan's life and as you can see below, the young Floridian is making a good recovery.

It makes me so Happy that @evangeiselman is doing well and throwing a Shaka! What a strong young man! Thank you so much to everyone for all the support and encouragement... For taking the time to express heartfelt Thank You's. I really appreciate all the Love. Not sure I'm worthy of such praise but for once in my life I can honestly say that I'm proud to be a human being. I also think it's important to thank all the people that are saving lives everyday and don't get the recognition and pats on the back that they deserve. Thank you @northshorelifeguardassociation you guys are the true heroes! Thank You everyone for your kindness. Lots of love‼️ @eric_geiselman

A photo posted by Andre Botha (@andre_botha_662) on Dec 7, 2015 at 2:56pm PST