British bather’s life saved by two Spanish waiters in Marbella

A HEROIC Spanish man serving drinks to sunbed users in a Marbella beach bar had to plunge into the sea to save a 68-year-old British tourist who had lost consciousness and was on the point of drowning on Wednesday June 1.

The hapless bather was foaming at the mouth, according to rescuer Juan Manuel Ortiz, who told reporters “I was with the sunbeds when an English-speaking woman came to tell me that something was wrong in the water.

“When I realised what was happening I jumped in without taking my clothes off and dragged the man to shore.”

A crowd immediately gathered around the two men, but no lifeguard was in sight, but a waiter from a nearby restaurant helped to put the unconscious swimmer in the recovery position, holding his mouth open while Juan Manuel pumped his chest to expel water swallowed by the victim.

After a nervous couple of minutes the man began to breathe, accidentally biting the waiter’s fingers as he did so, and the men of the hour remained on the scene, helping to calm the lucky tourist’s wife until emergency services arrived in the form of two policemen, who were quickly followed by a lifeguard and ambulance.

The incident lasted a mere 10 minutes but Juan Manuel was understandably left shaken: “I was trembling and spilled a glass of sangria over a customer at the first table I attended afterwards.”

The unfortunate bather was taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital and is reportedly expected to make a full recovery.