OCEAN CITY – Four members of a family visiting the 37th Avenue beach were rescued by a local attorney after being caught in a riptide current.
Brandon Walcott, who grew up in Ocean City and has a general law practice there, said he and his wife, Gillian, had just gotten to the beach to enjoy the sunset and happy hour at about 6 p.m. July 19.
“It wasn’t a particularly rough ocean, but I noticed right away that there was a significant riptide,” Walcott said. “I grew up surfing and swimming in these waters, so it was pretty obvious to me. I saw a family of four playing at the water’s edge, and said to my wife that they were playing near the rip current and might find themselves in danger.”
Within three or four minutes, Walcott said, the family found themselves carried out by the current, about 40 to 50 yards from shore.
He said the youngest child, a boy about 6 years old, could not swim and was the first person he saved. He gave the child to his wife onshore, who was trying to locate the father, and asked her to call 911.
“I knew there were three others in the water, but when I turned around to go back, I could only see two people,” Walcott said. “I asked the two people, the mom and another child, to stop swimming and point to where they last saw the third swimmer.
“The water was quite murky, but I eventually found her hands and pulled her out of the water,” he said about the girl, who he thought was 16 or 17 years old. “She had gone under. I gave her a few chops on her back, and grabbed her to carry her back to shore. She was fighting me along the way, but couldn’t swim.
“I got her to shore, and there was a group standing there watching, pretty much frozen.”
By that point, the other two swimmers had let the riptide take them along, and they were a little closer to shore.
“Once I got them in waist-deep water, the people came off the beach and helped bring them to shore,” Walcott, 38, said. “It was pretty scary, and I was just working off adrenaline.”
He said that at high tide, there often is a big drop-off at the shoreline that people don’t expect. “Everyone was pretty shaken up,” he said.
Walcott said emergency response teams arrived and checked everyone out, but no one was transported by ambulance for further medical treatment.
J. Allan Karas, director of operations for the Ocean City Beach Patrol, said there tend to be many locals at the beaches near 37th Avenue “who know the waters.”
“It’s a good thing, especially after hours,” he said. “When I swim, I swim in front of the lifeguards, and I’ve been a lifeguard. Riptides can happen, so the family was lucky that someone who knew the water was nearby.”
According to Tom Stevens, a beachgoer who observed the rescue, “The police and paramedics came after Brandon saved everyone, and Brandon only cared about the health and safety of the family he saved. Everyone on 37th Street beach last night honestly was in awe of Brandon. Those people surely would have died had Brandon not jumped in.”
The beaches are unguarded after 5 p.m. during the week and after 5:30 p.m. weekends, according to the Ocean City Beach Patrol website.
“Growing up in Ocean City, my parents always insisted we know what to do if caught in a riptide,” Walcott said. “You let it take you out, and tread water. You then swim parallel to the beach. It sounds great on paper, but it’s scary as hell when you are caught in it.
“I’m happy that I was there to help them, and I wanted to be sure everyone was safe. The water is pretty brown and murky, so it can be hard to see through. You can’t really blame anyone because they didn’t know what they were getting into. I knew what it was and luckily was able to avoid something worse.”
Rip currents are the leading cause of beach drownings and the most common cause of rescues. A rip current is a quickly moving offshore current. Whereas regular currents run parallel with the incoming and outgoing tide, rip currents are less predictable and flow perpendicular to the tidal currents.
A trained lifeguard can quickly spot a rip current and assess its strength from the beach. Riptides are usually identified by agitated, murky water, distinct from the rest of the ocean. They often exist permanently near ocean structures such as jetties.
If caught in a riptide, swimmers are counseled to remain calm. If there is a lifeguard on duty, wave your arms, signaling your distress. If no lifeguard is on duty, get the attention of other beachgoers, who should immediately call 911. Do not attempt to swim against a strong current. If you cannot touch the ground to walk in, swim parallel to the beach out of the rip current and then directly to shore.
Contact the reporter, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
