Tragedy struck in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina when an 18-year-old Georgia man was killed while on vacation with his girlfriend’s family. Daniel Rowe died after saving his girlfriend’s sister from drowning in the open waters along the coast of Myrtle Beach.
Daniel Rowe was a rising Sophomore at Kennesaw State State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. In a Facebook post featuring pictures of Rowe, his mother, Helena Herry Rowe, wrote, “Son I am broken without you.” The loss was unexpected and many family members felt a major blow in the aftermath.
Rowe’s causin, Nashonie Chang, also wrote a post on Facebook to share with the world her thoughts about the loss of Daniel during the beachside incident, explaining what happened and how he died. “While on vacation in Myrtle Beach with his girlfriend and her family on June 20th,” she said, “he was rescuing his girlfriend little sister and got caught by a wave. He was drowning and by the time life guards and paramedics got him to the hospital he has sustained substantial brain injuries,” Nashonie said.
Chang then went on to explain in the Facebook post that despite the life-saving efforts provided by medical teams in the aftermath of the tragic incident, Rowe’s heart rate finally crashed to zero before he was removed from life support and declared dead in the hospital.
Chang asked for help from friends who saw the post, saying, “Above all I solicit your continued prayers for our family as we grieve. Danny was a sweetheart and will be missed by all his friends and family that love him dearly. We are all hurting badly right now. Pray especially for his parents and siblings.”
She also shared the special connection that she formed with Rowe after years as a caregiver and assistant to his parents. “In my family I’m know as Danny’s mom,” she said, “and his loving parents the babysitters because every since he was born they have shared him with me. Due to relocations we did not spend as much time together in his later years as his earlier years. However he has always been and will forever be my baby. My one and only unofficially adopted child from birth.”
According to reports, Rowe and his girlfriend’s family were caught in an unexpected rip current, leading to their inability to stay afloat and return to shore quickly. NOAA offers tips on remaining safe if one is ever facing a rip current. Learning to stay calm and act with a plan is a must for anyone venturing into oceanic waters.
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Providing those tips on its website, NOAA says, “the best way to escape a rip current is by swimming parallel to the shore instead of towards it, since most rip currents are less than 80 feet wide. A swimmer can also let the current carry him or her out to sea until the force weakens, because rip currents stay close to shore and usually dissipate just beyond the line of breaking waves.”
Featured image: GoFundMe