A Carrollton family went to Florida to enjoy a sunny Memorial Day weekend away from the stresses of working — and doing pretty much everything else — at home.
Lisa Edison watched from the shore in Panama City Beach as her two sons swam past the outermost sandbar, wading further and further into deeper waters. They thought there was one more sandbar they could reach if they continued to venture out into the ocean.
The younger brother, Tristen, eventually decided to turn back, while 13-year-old Hunter carried on, trudging further away from the sandbar’s true end.
Edison began to worry; there was enough open water for several Jet Skis to speed between the shore and the teenager. Jered Rogers, whose family was enjoying the spot next to Edison on the beach, also took notice.
As soon as they saw 9-year-old Tristen begin to frantically wave his hands out of concern for his brother, their fears were confirmed. Rogers took off running.
“I didn’t even think about it. I just went,” he told AJC.com. “... I knew he was too far out because I was just out there two days before, and we only went out about half as far and had trouble getting back in.”
Rogers said he was exploring the sandbar days earlier with his vacation group, and a boy about Hunter’s age began to panic on the return swim. He said the group had to fight the undertow to get back, which is why he knew Hunter was in danger.
Edison began to jump and yell in a fruitless effort to get her son’s attention. However, she did manage to catch the eye of two off-duty firefighters from Gainesville, who were also enjoying the sun with their families.
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“We were sitting on the beach, having a good time and soaking up the rays,” firefighter Andrew Lathem said. “... We noticed there was someone way out there. That’s when we noticed a lady jumping up and down, waving her arms.”
Lathem, along with fellow firefighter Robby Buffington, grabbed a paddleboard and snapped into action. The duo rushed into the water to assist Rogers, who was working his way toward Hunter.
The distance was starting to get to Rogers by this point.
“A third of the way, I’m just praying,” he said. “I’m worn out, and I don’t know how he made it. I thought maybe he was on a sandbar ... but he was in some deep water. He was just treading water the whole time.”
While the trio swam, Edison ran to find help.
She ended up finding what she termed a lethargic lifeguard staff. So that left her son’s safe return in the hands of three men she’d never met.
“I could barely see my son at that point, and I knew that my son’s life was in the hands of three strangers,” Edison said. “That was the moment when I truly began to panic.”
Unbeknownst to her, the firefighters were among the most uniquely prepared people on that beach for this job.
“We both are public safety divers,” Lathem said. “You have to do a lot of swimming, so we’re very familiar with water rescues.”
Rogers made it to Hunter first, in what he estimated took about 20 minutes of swimming. The trained firefighters weren’t far behind, and the group huddled around the paddleboard to take a much-deserved breather.
They all swam back to shore, taking periodic breaks. By this point, Hunter was exhausted and needed to be placed on the board to stay afloat, Rogers said.
When they returned, Edison rushed to embrace her son, who was just then realizing the dangerous situation he endured. The firefighters said Hunter was calm through most of the incident, which helped in the end.
After learning about the rescue, the Gainesville Fire Department praised its two employees’ quick thinking and swift actions in a Facebook post.
“I don’t know what would have happened if Jered wasn’t there and the firefighters were not there with their paddleboard,” Edison said, adding that she thanked the trio with cold beers following the rescue.
Rogers said he might not have been there that day if it wasn't for the one thing hovering over everyone's lives at the moment: the COVID-19 pandemic.
He scheduled the beach trip for March, but those plans evaporated when the outbreak shut down most of the nation, including his home state of Tennessee.
“It was just God’s grace that we were on the beach that day,” he said.
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