My wife and I were out sunning on Gulf Shores Beach and right in front of us a young man washed up on the beach just after a tropical storm, directly in front of us. I first thought is was debris washing up then as it got closer it seemed he was waving at me to come in the water...anyway in a couple minutes a big wave washed him right up not more than 20 ft from us! Wife freaked and their was some kids on the beach who came running over and I told them to get back or go home, called the cops and they and the GS Fire Dept arrived and handled it.Ruined the day and rest of the vacation. Seems he was a college kid who drown the day before trying to save a kid that got caught in a undertow.
I saw a guy drown right in front of me on the beach on a family vacation to Hawaii . Lifeguards pulled his body out of the surf and worked CPR hard while his whaling wife was urging them on. They couldn’t save him, unfortunately.
I got to watch the story on the evening TV news back at the hotel, too. Report on the news was the tourist guy couldn’t swim but decided to take a pool mat way out into the ocean to see the tropical fish. Seeing that cured me of my desire to learn to surf in Hawaii.