Ben Carlson, 32, attempted to rescue a swimmer in distress in the water off 16th Street on July 6. Another is being planned for next year, again bringing lifesaving agencies, doctors and others together to determine best practices to prevent drowning. The lifeguard was identified as 32-year-old Ben Carlson, a 15-year veteran of the department. “His death just drove me to do that,” Pirdy said. “It’s like he had this never-tiring engine,” he said. The Foundation continues to operate in Ben’s name, providing annual scholarships, serving under-resourced children and most importantly working to develop and improve systems to protect lifeguards and the public from a wonderful, but non-forgiving ocean. She worked for the Galveston Island Beach Patrol for 5 years and was a junior lifeguard for 10. Carlson’s legacy has been carried on by family and friends who give back through the Ben Carlson Memorial and Scholarship Foundation. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. The foundation’s goal is also to make the beach – in Orange County and around the world – a safer place. The Ben Carlson Memorial Statue, designed by Ben's brother-in-law/artist Jake Janz, will be installed near the recently renamed Benjamin M. Carlson Lifeguard Headquarters at the Newport Beach Pier over the summer of 2015. Ben jumped from the boat and after a long swim made contact with the man. Raise Up For Ben. Moore said the foundation will install kiosks at beach entry points around Newport to provide beach safety tips. The longtime lifeguard had surfed all over the world, and he’d mastered waves far larger than the 10- to 12-foot breaks that pummeled the Newport Beach coastline … “Obviously, we wanted to tell Ben’s story right, but to tell the story of lifeguards the right way … it’s been special.”. The summit served in part as a tribute to Ben Carlson, a 15-year veteran Newport Beach Lifeguard, who, in 2014, became the first city lifeguard to die in the line of duty. “We feel like we’re only getting the feet under us and getting our momentum,” said John Moore, a Newport Beach lifeguard and foundation board member. DATE: July 7, 2014 CONTACT: Tom Gill – 757-580-7391 The United States Lifesaving Association (www.usla.org) has been informed of the tragic loss of Ben Carlson, a veteran Newport Beach, California lifeguard who died on a rescue in 10 – 12 foot seas, July 6, 2014.The United States Lifesaving Association joins lifeguards, first responders and the … “We’ve all just become closer, because of one amazingly heroic act by an amazing human being.”. Five years after the Newport Beach lifeguard died during a rescue in big surf, on July 6, 2014, his influence is apparent not just in the coastal community he vowed to protect, but in the continued effort by friends and loved ones to make beaches around the world a safer place in his honor. It was Carlson who introduced him to the tight-knit, big-wave community off Mexico’s coast, and Pirdy couldn’t believe that someone with so much ocean knowledge, so much physical strength, could be taken by the ocean. Since the foundation started, it has awarded $125,000 in scholarship funds. Ben Carlson, a longtime Newport Beach lifeguard, died in the line of duty five years ago on July 6. Newport Beach, CA — Lifeguard Ben Carlson gave all on July 6, 2014 when he drowned attempting to rescue a swimmer. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. © 2019 Ben Carlson Memorial & Scholarship Foundation. With some of the money raised, Pirdy has teamed with the foundation to bring buoys and fins to lifeguards at Puerto Escondido, Carlson’s favorite big-wave spot, where he was a fixture in the water. “I think the biggest takeaway for us was the appreciation that a lot of guards have. Carlson’s influence on Newport Beach runs deep, beginning with the nine-foot, stainless-steel statue depicting the longtime lifeguard, an inlander from Rancho Cucamonga who yearned to live at the beach. Does a plastic bag stuck on whale’s mouth indicate more ocean trash? Dozens of extreme athletes took to the waters this weekend to honor fallen lifeguard Ben Carlson by paddling the 30 miles from Catalina Island to Newport Beach and raising money in the process. His legacy lives on through beach safety efforts, scholarships, education programs and more. Project Wipeout honors Ben Carlson, an heroic lifeguard in Newport Beach. Carlson was the Newport Beach lifeguard who died five years ago in big surf in Newport Beach. Ben Carlson, 32, was pulled from the water around 8 p.m. PDT by fellow lifeguards following a frantic, three-hour search, Newport Beach Fire Department Chief Scott Poster said. Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. This undated photo provided by the Newport Beach Police Department shows Ben Carlson, 32, a Newport Beach lifeguard who drowned … That’s what motivated Pirdy to start the “Ben Did Go” fundraiser a year after Carlson’s death. Ben had just turned 32 and had proudly served as a Newport Beach Lifeguard for over 15 years. Newport Beach is that famous a beach town. The funds also have helped create ocean-awareness classes for inner-city students who don’t have junior lifeguard programs available to them. Since 2015 we are proud to have distributed over $125,000 in scholarship money to help further the education of numerous incredibly deserving students. The dedications continue in his honor, with the city of Newport Beach, a week ago, officially declaring July 6 as Ben Carlson Day. Ben Carlson, a longtime Newport Beach lifeguard, died in the line of duty five years ago on July 6. “When we go out to the lifeguard stations, fewer and fewer people remember Ben,” said his father, Chris Carlson. “Part of Water,” created by Newport local Tim Burnham and Jack Murgatroyd, who lives in Santa Monica, sold out when it debuted at the Newport Beach Film Festival and seats filled up at a festival held weeks later at Newport Harbor High School with all-day showings of the movie. In Newport, it would be obvious. Carlson’s family, wishing to carry on Ben’s legacy, announced that a scholarship will be started in honor of the lifeguard, who had attended both UC Riverside and UC Irvine. In his life, Ben Carlson was a hero who saved countless other lives guarding the Newport Beach coastline. “They don’t realize that mushroom-cloud water is a rip current that can kill them.”. The Carlson family also has a quiet tradition on that same day: bringing lifeguards lunch as a show of appreciation, a gesture marking the memory of their loved one. (Photo courtesy of the Ben Carlson Memorial and Scholarship Foundation), Newport Beach junior lifeguards sign their names on the Ben Carlson Day banner hanging at the Junior Lifeguard Headquarter. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Ben Carlson is seen in a photo posted on social media by the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Lifeguard Division. His legacy lives on through beach safety … The BCMSF is a DBA of the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Foundation, a tax deductible 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization. On July 6th, 2014, veteran Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson responded to a call of a man in distress. (Photo by MINDY SCHAUER, Orange County Register/SCNG), Ben Carlson, a longtime Newport Beach lifeguard, died in the line of duty five years ago on July 6. (Dan R. Krauss / For the Times) 6 / 6 ben carlson Newport Beach Fire Department Lifeguard, Ben Carlson, 32, drowned July 6th while attempting to rescue a swimmer in the waters off Newport Beach. Now, it is being shown in select theaters in California, coming to the ArcLight in Santa Monica at 7 p.m. July 10. The statue of Ben Carlson stands at the base of the Newport Beach Pier in Newport Beach on Friday, April 6, 2018. As they began to make their way back out to the rescue boat, both were hit by a large wave and taken over the falls. A lot of the guards knew Ben or worked with him,” said Murgatroyd, who grew up surfing in Malibu. Ben Carlson is Newport Beach's first and only lifeguard to die during a rescue. His death – on a busy Fourth of July weekend just days after his 32nd birthday – sent shockwaves not just throughout the Southern California coastal community, but through lifeguarding communities around the world. 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