Derrick Moore, a metro Atlanta father and beloved elementary school teacher, died while trying to save a 10-year-old girl who was caught in a dangerous rip current at Myrtle Beach, according to reports from 11 Alive and FOX 5 News.
Now, for the first time since the heartbreaking incident, the young girl Moore helped rescue is speaking publicly about what happened, and the one message she wishes she could have given the man who risked his life to save hers.
What happened to Summer McCallum and Derrick Moore?
Summer McCallum was spending the day at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with her family on Friday evening, Aug. 7, when a routine beach outing suddenly turned terrifying. The 10-year-old became caught in a rip current and was pulled farther away from shore.
“I was just scared and then my feet couldn’t touch the ground,” Summer McCallum said.
The frightening situation unfolded around 8 p.m. while Summer and her family were near the water. Her uncle, Ernest McCallum, was on the beach gathering their belongings when he looked up and noticed his niece struggling in the ocean. There were no lifeguards on duty at the time of the incident, according to FOX 5 News.
At first, Ernest said he wasn’t sure Summer was actually in danger.
“I turned around, and I see her head just looking straight up at the sky,” he said. “I’m thinking, is she, is she — she must be playing, because I just seen her and everything was fine.”
But it quickly became clear that Summer was being carried farther from shore by the current.
Ernest immediately rushed into the water in an attempt to reach her.
“I’m swimming, I’m swimming, now I’m not feeling nothing under my feet,” Ernest said. “It was crazy, you know, the waves…
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