Ex-MLB prospect dies in front of his family after saving family of five
Anderson 'Chase' Childers lost his life tragically while on vacation with his family on Sunday.
The 39-year-old was vacationing with his wife and three children in South Carolina when a woman asked him to help rescue swimmers who were stuck in the rip-tide, his family told Charleston NBC affiliate WCBD.
Childers, who was also a former police officer, instantly ran to the water to help the group.
'His first responder instincts kicked in and he went to the water to save people,' Pawleys Island Police Chief Michael Fanning said.
Childers and another individual helped the swimmers, identified as a family of five, return to shore safely at the vacation spot just south of Myrtle Beach.
However, Childers disappeared in the water and was swept away by the rip-tide in front of his wife, Nataley, and their three kids.
The Coast Guard recovered Childers' body about 90 minutes after he was last seen, the Pawley Police Department said in a statement on X.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Childers, and $US145,000-plus ($A220,000) has been raised as of Friday morning Australian time.
'As a devoted husband and father, he displayed extraordinary courage and selflessness. In a heroic act, he saved a family of five in a moment of crisis in Pawleys Island on Sunday afternoon, putting their lives above his own,' the post read.
'His bravery, kindness, and love will always be remembered.'
Childers was born in Nashville, Tennessee, before his family moved to Kennesaw, Georgia.
He played baseball for North Cobb Christian High School and Georgia State University, per the school's website.
In 2009, Childers joined the Baltimore Orioles farm system, where he played second base and shortstop.
He left baseball a year later to become a uniformed patrol officer for the Cobb County Police Department.
Childers received the Cobb County Police Department Life Saving Award in 2013.
'We are saddened to learn of Chase's passing, and send our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones,' an Orioles spokesperson told Atlanta news station WANF.
Childers' death was the fifth drowning on Pawleys Island since June 2023, and the second in the last month, WCBD-TV reported.
Police on the island said they are taking more precautions to ensure the public's safety for the future.
'We're going to put up extra signage in the areas that are prone to these rip currents. We have life rings at all beach accesses, but I think we need to increase life rings in certain areas that are hazard-prone,' the Pawleys police chief said.
If one gets caught in a rip current, authorities advise 'don't panic, swim parallel to the shore until you're out of the current.
'Then make your way back in.'
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