THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506190029
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
For almost 20 years, Ronald Silverman had been dogged by guilt.
He was fishing off the shore of Ocean View in the mid-1970s, looking on as two sailors struggled with their capsized catamaran. He didn't offer his help because he assumed they would be all right.
In the morning, he read that they had drowned.
He vowed it would never happen again.
So Sunday afternoon, when he and four others were returning from a fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay and spotted a jet ski bobbing in the water, Silverman remembered the catamaran.
Virginia Beach police credit the lightning-fast actions of the five men on board the 22-foot Angler outboard boat with saving the life of Daryl Smith, of East Stratford Road in Virginia Beach.
Smith, 27, was unconscious in the water after being thrown from his jet ski in Lynnhaven Inlet near Chick's Beach. He was in the intensive care unit of Virginia Beach General Hospital Sunday night. The hospital declined to release his condition.
Other jet skiers told police that Smith had been wave-jumping on his two-seater Sea-Doo Bombardier earlier in the day.
``At first we thought the jet skier was just off swimming,'' Silverman, 45, recalled. ``But using binoculars we could see a body face down in the water, and he didn't appear to be moving.''
Captained by Alain Roullet, 50, of Virginia Beach, the Angler headed to the abandoned jet ski and pulled Smith aboard. Others on the boat were Alain Roullet Jr., 17; Antwin Daniel, 37; and Drew Silverman, 20.
``He had this big gash in his head and his face was gray, he wasn't breathing,'' Silverman said. ``He looked real bad.''
Drew Silverman, Ronald's son, sprang into action as soon as Smith's limp body was dragged on board. He called upon his Northside Junior High School CPR training to begin resuscitation efforts.
``I looked at him, he had these military-type tattoos on both shoulders and and I thought to myself, `he's not much older than me,' '' Drew said. ``I wanted him to be alive.''
Drew said Smith's lungs were full of water and mucus. A tan foam gushed from his nose and mouth. Drew had to suck Smith's airways clear before administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
``I normally have a queasy stomach, but I didn't even give it a thought,'' he said. ``I saw a lot of blood and, of course for a second I thought about that, but there's no way I would stop.''
Drew, who is a carpenter with William Fulford Co. in Norfolk, said he kept talking to Smith as the boat motored toward Bubba's Marina, where the Virginia Beach Marine Patrol and the rescue squad waited.
``I kept saying, ``stay with me, you've gotta breathe, what's your name,' stuff like that,'' said Drew, who added that he had always had a feeling that someday he would need to use CPR to save someone's life.
Just as they approached the dock Smith gasped for air and groaned.
``It was a rush, an adrenalin rush, to see him breathe on his own,'' Drew said.
Later Sunday afternoon, the Silvermans were cleaning the trout they had caught during their morning fishing trip. But they could only talk about one subject: the dramatic rescue.
``This has been a great day,'' Ronald Silverman observed, finally shaking the vestiges of the guilt that has tormented him for two decades. ``We caught a lot of fish today.
``And one man.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON/
Drew Silverman, left, resuscitated Daryl Smith of Virginia Beach.
His father, Ronald Silverman - in helping with the rescue - assuaged
guilt from years before.
KEYWORDS: HERO RESCUE DROWNING JET SKI by CNB