Riptide can be crazy, I remember a few years ago swimming and diving in the waves in Negril it almost carried me out, when standing up I could feel a very strong current pulling on my feet..
"These people are not drowning today," one fast-acting woman remembers telling herself when she saw people drowning
Strangers on a Florida beach formed an 80-person human chain to rescue nine members of family who had been caught in a riptide and pulled too far from shore Saturday.
Roberta Ursrey and her family were enjoying the day at M.B. Miller County Pier on the Gulf of Mexico when she noticed her sons were missing, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported. She went looking for them and soon heard them screaming from the water that they were trapped by the current.
Others warned her not to go in the water, but Ursrey, her mother and five other family members swam to the boys' aid, but then found themselves also trapped in 15-feet of water.
Jessica Simmons, who had stopped with her husband at the beach for dinner, had just found a discarded boogie board when she saw people pointing at the water. She thought they were pointing at a shark, but when she realized people were drowning, she jumped on the board and began swimming toward Ursrey's family.
"These people are not drowning today," Simmons remembers telling herself. "It's not happening. We are going to get them out."
Meanwhile, Simmons' husband and some other men started a human chain to bring everyone back to shore. Some couldn't swim, so stayed in shallow water. Eventually, about 80 people were involved and got to within feet of the family.
Simmons, her husband and some others then towed the family to the chain, which passed them back to shore.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national...?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DFWBrand#ixzz4mYeDLdGr
"These people are not drowning today," one fast-acting woman remembers telling herself when she saw people drowning
Strangers on a Florida beach formed an 80-person human chain to rescue nine members of family who had been caught in a riptide and pulled too far from shore Saturday.
Roberta Ursrey and her family were enjoying the day at M.B. Miller County Pier on the Gulf of Mexico when she noticed her sons were missing, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported. She went looking for them and soon heard them screaming from the water that they were trapped by the current.
Others warned her not to go in the water, but Ursrey, her mother and five other family members swam to the boys' aid, but then found themselves also trapped in 15-feet of water.
Jessica Simmons, who had stopped with her husband at the beach for dinner, had just found a discarded boogie board when she saw people pointing at the water. She thought they were pointing at a shark, but when she realized people were drowning, she jumped on the board and began swimming toward Ursrey's family.
"These people are not drowning today," Simmons remembers telling herself. "It's not happening. We are going to get them out."
Meanwhile, Simmons' husband and some other men started a human chain to bring everyone back to shore. Some couldn't swim, so stayed in shallow water. Eventually, about 80 people were involved and got to within feet of the family.
Simmons, her husband and some others then towed the family to the chain, which passed them back to shore.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national...?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DFWBrand#ixzz4mYeDLdGr