Florida Beachgoers Made An Incredible Rescue After A Family Was Swept Away By A Riptide

On what should've been a nice day, over the weekend a total of nine people were swept out to sea and trapped in a riptide. The mishap began when Roberta Ursrey noticed her 8 and 11 year old sons were waving their hands and screaming from out in the water. People from Usrey's family and other visitors at the beach initially made attempts to rescue the two boys from the water, only to get trapped in the current themselves.

After the situation escalated, 29 year old Jessica Simmons and her husband 26 year old Derek Simmons decided they couldn't just sit back and watch this disaster unfold. After the group of beachgoers were left trapped out at sea, police and paramedics arrived. But after an officer had tried and failed to swim out and rescue the group himself, those at the Panama City Beach were left to watch the group in the water struggle as they waited for a police boat to arrive. The Simmons' stated that they couldn't just sit on the beach and watch someone drown, so they came up with the plan to form a human chain to rescue everyone.

Coming together for a good cause, somewhere between 70 and 80 people at the beach rescued the group stuck out in the water. Everyone was saved and brought back to land, and the story that started off as frightening had a heroic ending.

Those who were swimming at the Panama City Beach reported that the waves and water were heavy and strong this weekend. With over 100 deaths in America each year as a result of riptides, it's important to know what to do when you find yourself in a situation like this. The boys and everyone who was taken out into the current this weekend did everything as they should've. When you're stuck out in a strong current, you should yell and wave for help. If you have the energy, you can also swim parallel to the shore and eventually you should make your way out of the riptide.