Brandon D. Walcott

Brandon D. Walcott rescued a girl from drowning, Ocean City, New Jersey, July 19, 2024. The girl was playing in the surf of the Atlantic Ocean when she, her brother, and her mother all entered a rip current and were pulled into deeper water. Walcott, 38, attorney, was on the nearby beach with his wife when he noticed the family being pulled away from shore. He rushed to the water’s edge, where he motioned to the family using a thumbs-up/thumbs-down hand gesture, attempting to determine whether they needed assistance. Before receiving a response, he encountered a young boy, who was in the same party as the family, struggling to remain standing amid wadable surf. He grasped the boy and carried him to safety on the beach before returning to the wadable water where the boy had been. He then swam about another 80 feet to the general location of the family, who had continued to be pulled away from shore. Once there, he instructed the mother and the brother to tread water. Walcott then swam to the girl, who had submerged, and dived underwater, fanning his arms out in front of him, brushing the girl’s arm. Walcott then pulled the girl to the surface. Walcott noticed she was struggling to breathe, at which point he struck her back with his free hand, expelling water from her mouth. The girl panicked and flailed, but Walcott grasped her shirt and kept her at arm’s length. Walcott towed the girl out of the rip current as the mother and brother followed. They all swam to wadable water, where bystanders, including Walcott’s wife, helped the girl to safety on land while the mother and brother exited the water on their own. Once there, the girl and her family refused medical treatment from responding emergency personnel. Walcott was fatigued by the rescue but otherwise unharmed.