Aruba Tubing Accident
A family vacation in Aruba turned terrifying when a tubing excursion went horribly wrong, sending several relatives into the water and leaving a professional lifeguard to rely on his training to save the people closest to him.
Marcelo Lorenzo, a 24-year-old Hollywood Ocean Rescue lifeguard, was vacationing with his family on Aug. 11 when a speedboat towing two inflatable rafts made a wide turn. One of the rafts, carrying Lorenzo’s father, aunt and cousin, slammed into an anchored catamaran, throwing the family members into the boat and surrounding water.
Video of the accident shows the sudden impact and the chaotic moments that followed. Lorenzo was riding on the other raft when he saw his family crash. He immediately jumped into the water and swam toward them.
“The minute I saw that, I knew I had to jump off my raft and go save them,” Lorenzo said in the NBC News report.
Lorenzo first reached his father, who was trapped beneath the catamaran. He pulled him toward a ladder and helped get him out of immediate danger. He then searched for his cousin and found her unconscious and face-down in the water.
He checked her for a pulse and kept her afloat while help from employees aboard the catamaran arrived. Lorenzo also discovered that his aunt had suffered a serious arm injury and used a life vest to create an improvised sling to support her arm.
The situation was especially frightening because emergency responders were not immediately at the scene. Lorenzo said he did not know whether his relatives were dead or seriously injured when he first entered the water.
“I didn’t know if they were dead or possibly really hurt,” Lorenzo said, according to CBS Miami. “I just knew I had to get over there as soon as possible and go help them out.”
For Lorenzo, the response was not something he spent time debating. His professional training took over.
Lorenzo has worked with Hollywood Ocean Rescue for three years, and he told NBC 6 that lifeguards constantly train for emergencies and prepare for situations in which they have to act quickly. That training became critical thousands of miles from his usual post on Hollywood Beach.
“We’re always training,” Lorenzo said. “We’re out here just getting ready for the worst, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Despite being praised as a hero, Lorenzo has been reluctant to describe himself that way.
“I don’t wanna say I’m a hero. I was just doing the right thing, taking care of my family,” he told CBS Miami.
The accident left multiple family members injured. Relatives remained in Aruba for treatment, while Lorenzo’s father had to stay behind until he was medically cleared to travel back to the United States. Lorenzo has since returned to his lifeguard duties in Hollywood.
Hollywood officials have recognized Lorenzo’s actions. The City of Hollywood placed a Lifesaving Award for Lorenzo on the Aug. 26, 2026, City Commission agenda, citing his actions in rescuing multiple people during the boating accident while he was off duty and vacationing abroad.
The dramatic rescue is a reminder of how quickly recreational water activities can become dangerous. In this case, a routine vacation excursion changed in seconds, and a lifeguard who was thousands of miles from his workplace found himself facing the kind of emergency he trains for every day.
For Lorenzo, there was no question about what came next. His family needed help, and his training kicked in.
