Matthew Garcia Heroic in Trying to Rescue Lucas Ransom from Shark

Lucas Ransom died on his bodyboard after a shark bite in waters just north of Santa Barbara, California. Friend Matthew Garcia was only a couple of feet away when he heard his friend's cry for help and saw a shark leap out of the wave.  According to Garcia, the large wave he was riding, turned red with blood..."it was just red, the whole wave."

Luke Ransom

Matthew tried to find Lucas in the surf, but couldn't see him. He had decided to swim for help when he saw the bodyboard pop to the surface, and his friend floating face down. Garcia immediately went to him and did chest compressions while bringing him to shore. It was too late. Lucas Ransom was already dead. See a video below.

Think about seeing a shark you believe to be about 18 feet long, which has just attacked your friend. The water is red with blood. Would you have the courage to stay in those waters, find your friend and drag him to shore? This is a story of fearless friendship ending terribly.

Surf Beach, on the property of Vandenberg AFB,  and several others close by were closed for about 72 hours. Experts believe there is a good chance the shark was a Great White. Luke's leg, reportedly torn off at the pelvis, has not been found, but a one foot section of Ransom's bodyboard was located. It was bitten through:

Lucas Ransom's Bodyboard

The shark, which breached the water on its side, appeared about 18 feet long, Garcia said. "There was no sign, there was nothing. It was all very fast, very stealth," said Garcia, 20.

The pair, best friends since they were on the water polo and swim teams together at Perris High School in Riverside County, had joked the night before about the chances they would be attacked by a shark, Garcia said. It was the first time either had been to that particular beach and they planned to surf until about 11 a.m. and then go to class, he said. 

In 2003, a Great White bit a surfer's board, but the man was not hurt. Thirty miles away from Surf Beach, in 2003, a 50 years old woman died from a Great White attack.

Lucas Ransom, 19, was a Chemical Engineering major, readying to change studies to chemistry in preparation as a career as a pharmacist. As a certified lifeguard at age 16, he was instrumental in saving the life of a young boy along with two other lifeguards. If Lucas had a chance at survival, his friend Matthew Garcia would have been there for him.

Matthew Garcia and Lucas Ransom: Shark Attack

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

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