Bryce Brooks Obituary, 16-year-old Atlanta Teen Died Rescuing Children From Rip Currents At Perdido Key
Bryce Brooks Obituary, 16-year-old Atlanta Teen Died Rescuing Children From Rip Currents At Perdido Key
An Atlanta family is calling their son a hero after he lost his life trying to save drowning victims in Perdido Key.
Crystal and “Shivy” Brooks describe their 16-year-old son, Bryce, as a protector — the kind of kid that would never let someone walk home alone.
They say Bryce died after trying to save four younger children he didn’t know from drowning at Perdido Key last Thursday after they were pulled by rip currents
“As tragic as this situation is, it’s not one where we can look at it as a senseless tragedy,” Shivy Brooks said. “Our son saved the lives of kids he did not even know.”
There aren’t any lifeguards at the part of the beach — Johnson Beach — where the incident happened.
Authorities have not released updated details on the status’ of those involved in the water rescue, only saying initially that three people were flown to the hospital in critical condition and a fourth was transported in serious condition.
It’s protocol for Escambia Fire Rescue to respond to water rescues in the area. The department says they got to the scene in six minutes, but the Brooks family says six minutes wasn’t fast enough.
“When you don’t get air in the lungs of a person within three minutes, you will lose them,” Shivy Brooks said. “And if you have a system set up where you know your response time is six minutes, then you are not doing right by people who come to Florida.”
They say lifeguards should be present.
Escambia County told WEAR news it is going to put up signs saying lifeguards aren’t present — and they’ll add more flag poles at public access points for people to see the rip current risk.
Much of the beach is private property, so the county can’t put lifeguards out in the area. It was a yellow flag day at the time of the incident, meaning it was moderate risk for rip currents.
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