Woman swept into the ocean while walking along Orange County beach

A woman walking along an Orange County beach nearly drowned while suffering a cardiac incident after the powerful waves knocked her down and swept her into the ocean.

Before the terrifying experience, Teresa Tran met her best friends at Aliso Beach for the Saturday stroll in the sand. Her daughter Amanda Trinh said they were blindsided by the high surf. After getting knocked to their knees by the wave, the women were getting back onto their feet when another one knocked them back down. 

"They were trying to get up, and by the time they got up, a third one came out of nowhere, and they were knocked to their knees again," Trinh said. 

Panicked witnesses saw the women struggling in the rip current. Lifeguards raced into the water to save them. One friend made it to shore. Another was carried out. But by the time lifeguards reached Trinh's mother, she'd suffered a cardiac event due to the stress of nearly drowning. 

The crews worked on her on the beach and radioed for a helicopter. 

"She was still unconscious when they pulled her out so they were trying to find her pulse," Trinh said. "It was very faint and they flipped her over and that was when she vomited all of the water out and was able to regain consciousness after that."

A helicopter landed on the beach and airlifted Tran to the hospital. 

"Her last memory in the water is that she just recalls not being able to fight anymore," Trinh said. "She was just thinking I need to keep trying. I need to keep trying, but then eventually she kept swallowing so much water, and she just gave up."

Tran's daughter has started an online fundraiser to help pay the medical bill. This incident was just a few hundred yards away from where a 5-year-old drowned after being pulled out in strong surf. 

"She's horrified," Trinh said. "I don't think she's going to be going near any body of water for a while now."