‘This isn’t a job where you can relax’

UMES aviation student Russell Hayman's middle name is Joseph, but it could just as easily be “vigilant.”

That was the case on Independence Day 2019, when Hayman was involved in the rescue of a critically injured teen face down in the Atlantic Ocean.

“RJ,” as he's widely known, has been a lifeguard with the Ocean City Beach Patrol for four years and is a crew chief responsible for colleagues who man stands from 35th street to 43rd street.

From his 38th street post, Hayman witnessed 19-year-old Ben Paepcke dive awkwardly into the surf on July 4. He and Matt Egley, a first-year lifeguard who Hayman happened to be supervising at the time, sprang into action.

Hayman recalled being uneasy watching Paepcke enter the water head first at the surf's edge. It was low tide.

Paepcke broke the C5 vertebra in his neck and was in danger of drowning when the guards carefully pulled him from the water.

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