The Manhattan Beach pier is the most beautiful pier in Los Angeles. I photographed it only a few times. One evening, a thick fog rolled in. I was photographing underneath the pier, while several boys played at the water's edge around me.
The fog became so thick that visibility was reduced momentarily to just ten feet. I leaned on my tripod and daydreamed. I probably didn't realize that the noise of the kids had grown fainter.
Then, when a wave came crashing through the pier, a body rolled like a rubber doll to within a few feet of me. As quick as I could be shocked and horrified, the body leapt up, began screaming the most terrified scream imaginable, and began running nearly in circles, and hit one of the pier columns.
This was one of the boys, but I had no idea what was going on.
I grabbed him and carried him into the fog in the direction of the other boys' noises. They too, had no idea what was going on, but they were insistent - don't call the ambulance. "We can't afford the hospital." I sat the boy down. I ran off the beach and found a man with a cell phone. He called 911.
The fire truck lights and the ambulance lights made quite a spectacle in the fog. Firemen and medics rushed to the scene. The boy had been playing in the waves alone under the pier. The fog was so thick he couldn't see what was coming - a freak wave overwhelmed him and knocked his head against a pier column. He lost consciousness in the water, and awoke at my feet.
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