A father of three died last week saving two of his children from a rip current while vacationing in Florida, family and friends said.
Ryan Jennings and his family, from Maine, were out swimming in Juno Beach on Wednesday when he, his 12-year-old son and his 9-year-old daughter were caught in a rip current, according to Bangor Daily News. His wife, Emily Jennings, told the newspaper that he threw their son toward the shore and held their daughter above his head as they swam.
"He made sure they made it out alive,” she said. “He truly was our hero.”
She also told the outlet that the couple had found out she was pregnant with their fourth child just before they flew to Florida.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Ocean Rescue confirmed that its lifeguards had a water rescue at 3:25 p.m. near Juno Beach on Wednesday. Four people swimming in an unguarded area were brought to shore and transported to a local hospital. Conditions that day were "consistent with the potential for rip current activity."
An incident report from the Juno Beach Police Department investigation confirmed that the Jennings family were rescued from the water. According to the report, the children told officers that they were struggling in the water when their father "came into the ocean to save them."
Ryan Jennings was unconscious and being brought to shore when the officers arrived at the scene. He was not breathing, prompting life-saving measures until he was transported to Jupiter Medical Center, the report said.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
A rip current is a narrow channel of fast-moving water and is different than a rip tide, which is specific to water moving through inlets and the mouths of estuaries, embayments, and harbors, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. An estimated 100 people die in rip currents annually, the agency said.
"This incident underscores the importance of swimming at guarded beaches, where trained lifeguards can identify hazardous conditions, including rough surf and rip current formation, helping to reduce the risk of incidents before they happen," the rescue agency said.
Ryan Jennings' mother, Gail McLaughlin Toti, thanked the first responders and medical personnel for their efforts to save the family in a post on Facebook on Sunday. She wrote that she would forever remember their kindness and compassion.
A GoFundMe started to help provide for her and their three children described Ryan Jennings as Emily's "soul mate" and a loving father. More than $167,000 was raised on the platform for the family by Monday morning.
"His heroic actions are a testament to the kind of person he was, and his loss leaves a tremendous void in the lives of everyone who knew him," the GoFundMe said.
Michael Carney, a friend, wrote in a tribute on Facebook that Ryan Jennings grew up in Massachusetts but moved to Maine to raise his family after meeting his wife 10 years ago.
"In an instant your family’s life had changed," he wrote. "We wanted you to know you’ll always be that hero, you’re selfless act of courage saving you’re children before you were taken from us."
