Santa Cruz lifeguard receives Medal of Valor for heroic ocean rescue mission

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT-TV) — For Brendan Daly, putting others first is his life’s mission. He has to make split second decisions often. 
 
“Muscle memory kicks in. You show up on scene and see somebody that needs help. You don't even spend time thinking about your personal safety. You just evaluate if you can help them,” said the Santa Cruz Fire Department Marine Safety Officer.
  
On Thursday, Daly received the Medal of Valor award in Ventura — for a rescue attempt he could have died in. 
 
Last July, Daly was off-duty when he received a call that a man and a pregnant woman were swept away by a sneaker wave while standing on a cliff at “Death Rocks" in Santa Cruz, which is known for fatalities in years past.
  
“Falling off the cliff approximately 15 feet into the water, that's about one and a half times if you jumped off a single story building. So you're just under two story building into the cold water. You know, the water in Santa Cruz doesn't get above about 56 degrees. So they're into cold water. It's a shock on your system,” said Daly.
 
Daly rushed to the scene and jumped into the water without any backup. 
 
“Making access myself, there's no stairs. There's no good way down the cliff. So it involves sliding down the cliff and jumping into the water. Suffered small injuries to myself on the way down,” said Daly.
 
He says the most challenging part was trying to keep both unconscious victims afloat before help arrived. 
  
“Before I jumped in, I saw where Brendan was. So I know that he's got two victims. And that's in these conditions. That's a lot of work for one person. So my job was to get out there and help him manage those victims, try to keep their airways out of the water,” said Santa Cruz Lifeguard, Carter Baginski.

Despite the rescue team’s best efforts, both victims were pronounced dead. 
 
Daly hopes to spread his message of ocean safety and urges people to stay away from slippery rocks and dangerous cliff sides.