TOMS RIVER, NJ — Bystanders who watched from shore are praising a surfer who tried to rescue a Middletown man last week after he became unresponsive while swimming in Ortley Beach.

Jackie Marcogliese of Seaside Heights was sitting on the beach with her friend and the friend's daughter when they noticed several people standing at the edge of the water. The next thing she saw was a man on a surfboard, paddling out toward something.

"We didn't know why the surfer was going out there," Marcogliese said.

The man was Steven Lambusta, who lives in Ortley Beach with his wife, Kim. Lambusta had just gotten in the water when he saw Kim trying to get his attention, and she and a woman next to Kim pointing to something.

"Usually she's just pointing out dolphins," Lambusta said. This time there was something different about her gestures, and he started paddling in the direction she was gesturing.

"You couldn’t see much because the water was blowing out with the west wind," Lambusta said.

Lambusta, meanwhile, had realized what his wife was pointing to: a man floating on his back. The man, Matthew J. Mauro of Middletown, was 250 yards from shore at the time.

"I was yelling at him, trying to get a response, because I didn't want him to come to suddenly and pull me under," Lambusta said. Mauro, whose eyes were open, didn't respond, he said.

Marcogliese said from the shore, she and her friends realized there was something floating in the water, but couldn't quite tell what it was at first. She took video and zoomed in to try to figure it out.

She wasn't sure how long Mauro had been in the water, or exactly what happened before he was seen floating.

Lambusta, 62, is a lifelong Ocean County resident and has been surfing for 40 years but has never been a lifeguard. He knew he had to get Mauro back to shore, however and knew that was going to be a challenge as Mauro was a much bigger man.

"I'm 140 pounds, and he was about 220," Lambusta said. "Paddling with one hand and holding him with one, that was totally not happening." He secured the leash from his surfboard around Mauro's chest and began trying to paddle back in that way.

As he paddled in, Lambusta said he motioned to his wife to get someone to call 911, but when he got Mauro back to the beach learned that 911 already had been called.

It took Lambusta about 10 minutes to bring Mauro's body in, Dana Wolfanger of Wanaque told the Daily Voice. She was at the beach with her sister, and as Lambusta reached the shoreline, Wolfanger's sister, who is a police officer in Livingston and a lifeguard, jumped in to help and with others started to perform CPR, according to the report.

The rescue team from Seaside Heights arrived shortly afterward, as did Toms River police and EMS, Marcogliese and Wolfanger said. Mauro was taken to Community Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Mauro, 48, was at the beach with parents, according to Lambusta and the witnesses. He had been a project manager at EXCEL Environmental Services for many years and was a graduate of Rutgers College, according to his obituary on the Costello-Greiner Funeral Home website.

"He was devoted to his family, friends, job, and to environmental causes," the obituary said. "Matthew dedicated his life to putting others first and helping them in every way he possibly could. He lived his life to the fullest and always saw the best in everyone and everything."

"I don't know why no one noticed something was wrong," Marcogliese said.

The incident has changed how she feels at the beach, she said.

"Now I'm paranoid – why are people out there with no lifeguards?" she said. "The guy on the surfboard risked his life to go out there – he did a heroic thing."

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.