February 19, 2007

UCSC alum honored for ocean rescue

By Guy Lasnier

Crown College marine biology student Mike Towle was watching the sunset with his girlfriend November 14 when a man suddenly fell into the ocean from rocks along West Cliff Drive.

Acting Chancellor George Blumenthal awards Crown graduate Mike Towle with a certificate of appreciation for rescuing a man who fell into the ocean along West Cliff Drive. Photo: Guy Lasnier

Towle shed his clothes and shoes and scampered down the cliff into the 52-degree water. He got to the man who was being dashed into the rocks by waves and eventually managed to pull him back to shore with a life ring someone had tossed.

Acting Chancellor George Blumenthal honored Towle at his February 14 cabinet meeting, presenting him with a certificate of appreciation and calling his actions "heroic."

Towle, who graduated in December, now lives in Long Beach as he recuperates from a broken wrist suffered during the rescue. It happened, he said, as he and the young man were swept by waves from an offshore rock outcropping.

The man, suffering from hypothermia, recovered after being taken to the hospital.