Former pro baseball player's heroic final act before he drowned in freak rip tide in front of his family

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

A former professional baseball player died a hero when he drowned off the South Carolina coast over the weekend.
Anderson 'Chase' Childers, 38, who played second basemen and shortstop for a Baltimore Orioles farm team, was on vacation on Pawleys Island with his wife, Nataley, and their three children on Sunday when he selflessly jumped in the water to save swimmers caught in a rip current, WCBD reports.
His family explained that a woman had approached him on the beach, asking for help saving the family of five, and he ran into the water without hesitation.
'His first responder instincts kicked in and he went to the water to save people,' Pawleys Island Chief of Police Michael Fanning said of Childers, who also worked as a police officer in Cobb County, Georgia.
But when Nataley saw the family of five and another man who had helped them come back to shore without her husband at around 4.45 pm, she alerted the authorities, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Midway Fire Rescue was then dispatched, and soon Pawleys Island Police and the Coast Guard joined the search for the father-of-three, ultimately recovering his body about 90 minutes later.
'It feels surreal, incredibly hard to grasp and profoundly unfair,' Childers' family said in a statement to WSB-TV.
'Chase was a truly selfless individual, always prioritizing the safety of others above his own,' they continued. 'Without hesitation, he would leap into action whenever someone was in need, ready to tackle any challenge that came his way.
'To his family and all who knew him, he will forever be remembered as a hero.'
But this was not the first time Childers was recognized for saving lives, as he previously received the Cobb County Police Department Life Saving Award in 2012, when he was working as a police officer.
'His bravery, kindness and love will always be remembered,' reads an online fundraiser to benefit his wife and their children.
The fundraiser - which had raised nearly $54,000 as of Wednesday - describes Childers as 'a loving son, a dedicated brother, a treasured friend, an exceptional father to his three wonderful children, and the husband of his beautiful wife, Nataley, who had been his soulmate and best friend since they were teenagers.'
Many also shared their fond memories of the Georgia man, who played baseball for Georgia State University before becoming a professional in 2009.
'Chase was one of the funniest people I've ever met. He had an incredible sense of humor and was the most talented baseball player I ever had the privilege of playing infield with,' one friend wrote.
The Oregon Park Baseball Association further said Childers 'was one of our own, a respected, well-loved coach and a pillar of our community.
'If you had the privilege of knowing Chase, you knew he was a great man, selfless, courageous and deeply devoted to his family,' the organization wrote on Facebook.
Childers' death marks the fifth drowning on Pawleys Island since June 2023, and the second in the past month, WCBD reports.
Police on the island now say they are taking more precautions to prevent any future drownings.
'We're working to educate the people who rent here, the people who visit here. We're getting magnets for all the houses to explain rip currents and how to deal with it,' Police Chief Fanning explained.
'We're going to put up extra signage in the areas that are prone to these rip currents,' he added, noting that there are already 'life rings at all beach accesses, but I think we need to increase life rings in certain areas that are hazard-prone.'
If you do get caught in a rip current, authorities advise you 'don't panic, swim parallel to the shore until you're out of the current. Then make your way back in.'