‘Selfless’ 16-year-old dies saving kids from currents off Florida coast, GA family says
Beside a broken heart emoji, the family of Bryce Brooks remembered him as a “sweet, selfless hero.”
“At that time of being selfless, our son Bryce, while being pulled by currents himself, literally called for help, but not for himself,” Brooks’ father, Alfred Shivy Brooks, said of the 16-year-old, WAGA reported. “He was calling for help for the little kids he was looking out for.”
Bryce, a junior at Maynard Jackson High School in Atlanta, died April 6 after family members said he jumped into the water to save three younger kids caught in a rip current at a beach near Pensacola, Florida, according to the news station.
A close family friend also died during the rescue.
The teen and his family were vacationing in the area when tragedy struck.
Around 2 p.m., fire rescue officials got a call about four young swimmers “in distress” in Perdido Key, Escambia County public information officer Davis Wood told McClatchy News. All four were pulled about 300 feet into the water, according to WEAR and fire rescue officials.
Three beachgoers spotted the children struggling and jumped in to try to save them, officials said, the news station reported. Among those who sprang into action was Bryce.
At some point, the teen was also caught in the undercurrent and went missing, family members told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s when close family friend Charles Johnson went in after him but never made it back to shore.
Both were later retrieved by beachgoers and airlifted to a hospital, where they died, according to the newspaper. The three children survived.
Officials determined that “rip currents were the cause of the swimmers being in distress,” Wood said.
“We’re never going to get to see Bryce grow up and be the full man that he was going to be,” the teen’s mother, Crystal Brooks, said during a news conference, WSB-TV reported. “But we know that he stepped into his manhood to save these children. That makes me proud.”
“It doesn’t take an ounce of pain, but it makes me proud of our son,” she continued.
A GoFundMe launched for the family described Bryce as a “selfless young man full of passion and love for life.”
“Bryce’s actions helped to save several lives,” the fundraiser states. “We cannot even begin to understand the unimaginable impact this has had on their family, friends, and loved ones but know the power of this community.”
McClatchy News reached out to Atlanta Public Schools for comment on April 11 and was awaiting a response.
What’s a rip current?
Rip currents are “powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water” that happen on the coasts of the U.S. and in the Great Lakes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Lifeguards rescue thousands of people from rip currents annually, and about 100 people in the U.S. are killed each year after getting caught in the strong currents.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 11:29 AM with the headline "‘Selfless’ 16-year-old dies saving kids from currents off Florida coast, GA family says."