Dozens form human chain to rescue drowning family caught in riptide off Florida beach
Up to 80 strangers on a Florida beach formed human chain to rescue nine people, six of them from one family, who had been caught in a riptide and pulled too far from shore.
Roberta Ursrey and her family were enjoying their day at Panama City Beach when she noticed her sons were missing, the Panama City News Herald reported. She went looking for them and soon heard them screaming as they were trapped by the current.
Others warned her not to go in the water, but Ursrey, her mother and five family members swam to the boys’ aid, only to find 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 towards 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.
Ursrey’s mother suffered a major heart attack during the ordeal and remains hospitalized. A nephew suffered a broken hand. Otherwise, everyone was safe.
“I am so grateful,” Ursrey said. “These people were God’s angels that were in the right place at the right time. I owe my life and my family’s life to them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”
Simmons said she was impressed by everyone working together to rescue the family.
“It’s so cool to see how we have our own lives and we’re constantly at a fast pace, but when somebody needs help, everybody drops everything and helps,” Simmons told the newspaper. “That was really inspiring to see that we still have that.
“With everything going on in the world, we still have humanity,” she added.
