SELFLESS

Georgia Teen Dies Saving 3 Kids From Rip Current in Florida

Bryce Brooks sprang into action after he noticed the children struggling, and jumped in the water with two other beachgoers to save them.

A “sweet, selfless hero” is how Alfred Shivy Brooks is remembering his son after his untimely death on April 6. Bryce Brooks was just 16 years old when he died while saving three younger children from a rip current at a Florida beach. “At that time of being selfless, our son Bryce… while being pulled by currents himself… literally called for help, but not for himself,” Shivy told WAGA. "He was calling for help for the little kids he was looking out for.” Bryce sprang into action after he noticed the children struggling, and jumped in the water with two other beachgoers to save them. The three kids survived, but Bryce got swept away in the current. Family friend Charles Johnson went in after Bryce, but suffered the same fate. Both died after being airlifted to a hospital. “We’re never going to get to see Bryce grow up and be the full man that he was going to be,” said Crystal Brooks, Bryce’s mother. “But we know that he stepped into his manhood to save these children. That makes me proud.”