In an extraordinary rescue op on the shores of Panama city in Florida, beachgoers formed an 80-person human chain to rescue a drowning family that ventured out deep into the ocean.
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The incident took place on Saturday when at least 9 members of a family got stuck in a riptide.
It all started when Roberta Ursrey suddenly noticed that her 8- and 11-year-old sons were too far from shore. The children were caught in a current and were unable to swim back.
"They were screaming and crying that they were stuck and they couldn't go nowhere," Ursrey was quoted as saying by the NBC news. To save the children, Ursrey, her mother and five other members of the family swam towards the boys. However, they too got caught in the current.
"I honestly thought I was going to lose my family that day," Ursrey said. "It was like, 'Oh God, this is how I'm going.'", Ursrey was quoted by The News Herald.
Thankfully, the visitors on the beach noticed the family struggling and started forming a human-chain. They linked their arms to withstand the current and reach out to the family stuck in 15-feet water.
"It went from, like, five people to about 70 people at the end. It lasted well over an hour," Jessica Simmons, one of the people who helped save the family, told WJHG.
The rescuers first towed the children to the shores followed by the rest of the family.
As people on the beach cheered the rescuers, the mother of the Ursrey seemed more than grateful towards them.
"I am so grateful," Ursrey told The Panama City News Herald.
"These people were God's angels that were in the right place at the right time. I owe my life and my family's life to them. Without them, we wouldn't be her," she added.
