Surfer, 17, Collapses and Dies

NEWPORT BEACH —  A teenager who came ashore after surfing Tuesday collapsed on the sand and died less than an hour later, officials said.

Darren Michael Bolton, 17, of Highland, Calif., was surfing at the Wedge when he got out of the water, walked onto the sand and collapsed in front of a friend about 6 p.m., said Donna Boston, emergency services coordinator for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

Lifeguards performed CPR and tried other lifesaving measures. Bolton was pronounced dead at Hoag Presbyterian Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach at 6:53 p.m.

Bolton was the second teenager to die on an Orange County beach Tuesday.

Several miles up the coast, 14-year-old Chanan Remington of Brawley collapsed Tuesday morning and later died as she was finishing a two-mile run along Huntington Beach.

Remington was on her second day of training in a 10-week junior lifeguard program when she fell face-first into the shallow surf about 100 yards east of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Deputy Supervising Coroner Rod Thomas said an autopsy was performed on the two teenagers Wednesday. Over the next two months, toxicology and other tests will be performed.

Thomas said it did not appear that Remington had any medical problems. Bolton apparently had complained earlier of stomach problems and may have suffered a recent head injury, he said.