CNN Producer Helps Rescue Man From Hurricane Bill’s Rough Surf

By Chris Ariens 

CNN producer Stephen Samaniego can’t seem to get away from the news, even on his day off. Samaniego, who produces for “American Morning” with correspondent Jason Carroll, was surfing off Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., on Sunday as Hurricane Bill kicked up the surf along the Eastern Seaboard.

Samaniego noticed another surfer in distress. 24-year-old Daniel Mastey was trying to launch his surfboard from a jetty when the waves sent him into the rocks, breaking both his legs. Samaniego dragged Mastey, who once worked as a lifeguard, back to shore where he was rushed to the hospital.

“I was lucky enough to be in a place where I was able to help this guy out. He could have easily died if he had been swept off the rocks,” Samaniego tells TVNewser. “Working in the news business, I’m used to covering the news but not becoming a part of the story.”

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Samaniego recently experienced hazardous duty while on the job, too. He was producing alongside Deborah Feyerick on this story last week.

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