Man rescued from Florida riptide didn't have a heartbeat for seven minutes

Caught in a riptide and without a heartbeat for almost seven minutes, 21-year-old Felipe Ribeiro Desouza has vowed that he is "never going to the beach again."

Several people had to be rescued from a Florida beach after getting caught in a rip current, but Mr Ribeiro Desouza was the only one that was unresponsive.

Pulled from the water by two boogie boarders, they managed to hoist him onto their board until a lifeguard was able to reach them.

Deputy Stan Manhart of the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said: "The first thing he said is he's never going to the beach again."

While on the board, police officers attempted to do CPR, but wrestled with keeping him on the slippery board.

Dalton Smith, Lifeguard: "We just let him know that they needed to hold his head up above water. And we just swam them all in together."

Ty Tarnow of the New Smyrna Fire Department said: "With the patient being slippery, the board being wet, they were able to maintain the patient on the board and do very effective CPR."

He was then passed to the fire department who made efforts to get his pulse back.

Ty Tarnow, New Smyrna Fire Department, said: "With saltwater drownings, what happens is when the saltwater enters the lungs, you have a major fluid shift in the body. So that creates Pulmonary Edema. So this this patient needed advanced lifesaving airway procedures.

"It was just a miracle that this young man was able to pull through."

The fire department said that Mr Ribeiro Desouza was without a pulse for between six to seven minutes.

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