The Life You Save

Written by Michael Berk

Severe budget cutbacks close many Los Angeles beaches with life-and- death consequences.
After receiving the news that their jobs are in jeopardy due to budget cuts, Matt and Summer volunteer to guard as civilians. On the same beach, a young couple very much in love, David and Julia, stand near the waterline on a rock outcropping. David surprises Julia with an engagement ring, and in her excitement she accidentally knocks the ring into the water. David dives after it, but he onrushing tide pins him underwater. Terrified, Julia jumps in after her fiancé. Summer and Matt rush to their aid, and David barely survives. When David and Julia come to headquarters to thank Matt and Summer, Mitch hits upon the idea of people the lifeguards have saved testifying in front of the county commissioners.


In a budget meeting at the beach, the commissioners hear from, and we relive, the harrowing and heroic rescues of former Governor Dickson, whose life was saved when Mitch and CJ staved off a beach assassination attempt (“Dead of Summer”), a young homeless girl, Charlie Dupree, who found a home after Mitch and Hobie saved her life (Sandcastles), a mother of two whose oldest son was resuscitated by Mitch after being pronounced dead at the hospital (Submersion),and a former gang member, Memo, who straightened out with Mitch’s help (“Point of Attack”. The commissioners are overwhelmed by the dramatic testimony, but still must deal with the reality of budget cuts, despite Mitch’s pronouncement that without lifeguards on the beach, people will die.

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