A 19-year-old woman drowned Sunday morning after struggling in the water at Galveston Beach.
At 6:31 a.m., Galveston Island Beach Patrol received a 911 call about a woman being pulled from the water at 76th and sand with CPR in progress.
Witnesses reported seeing Yamileth Ramirez, a 19-year-old woman living in Houston, body surfing with her brother when she began to struggle. Her brother and a bystander pulled her to shore and began CPR. Emergency responders arrived, provided advanced life support, and transported her to John Sealy Emergency Room, where she was pronounced dead.
Medical Assistant Dekendria Johnson and her 11-year-old daughter are two of the bystanders who rushed to help.
“I started the compressions and stuff like that with the other officer who running from the other side of the ocean and everything. He did his compression first and I did mine,” Johnson said.
Ramirez’s color began to change as people tried to help her.
“Her color was changing and when your color changes I knew it wasn’t going to be good,” Johnson said.
Galveston Island Beach Patrol reported taking 4,397 preventative actions on Saturday, including moving people from potential danger, as well as performing five rescues, reuniting nine lost children, and responding to nine medical emergencies.
The drowning Sunday was the second drowning in Galveston this weekend. On Saturday, 26-year-old Joshua Acevedo drowned after he was caught in a rip current.
“The drowning yesterday and the drowning today are our first and second drownings of the year here in Galveston and we’re hoping that will be minimized but we need calm water and we need people to be aware of all the safety tips,” said Chief of Galveston Island Beach Patrol Peter Davis.
“Our thoughts are with the families of these unspeakably tragic events. Red flag conditions are expected to persist throughout the weekend and swimmers are asked to swim near a lifeguard, stay far from any structures such as a pier or jetty, and avoid swimming at the ends of the island,” said the press release from Galveston Island Beach Patrol. “Due to the extremely rough conditions and strong rip currents, adults who are good swimmers should not go beyond their waist and children and poor or non-swimmers should not enter the water.”