Jessica Simmons and her husband inspired 80 people to band together in a human chain and save a family of nine from almost certain drowning off of a Florida beach on Saturday, July 8. FaithWire reports:
That’s when it happened. Following Simmons lead, other strangers also recognized what was happening, and began spontaneously making the human chain. Another person would join and then another and another. Some were in water up to their necks.
“These people are not drowning today,” Simmons said to herself, getting pumped up. “It’s not happening. We’re going to get them out.”
Some of the people who joined the chain couldn’t even swim, but wanted to help…
The rescue was first reported by North West Florida Daily News, who shared Simmons’ thoughts once each member of the family had been saved:
Looking back, Simmons said it wasn’t so much about what she did to help rescue the family, but everyone dropping what they were doing to help.
“It’s so cool to see how we have our own lives and we’re constantly at a fast pace, but when somebody needs help, everybody drops everything and helps,” Simmons said. “That was really inspiring to see that we still have that.
“With everything going on in the world, we still have humanity,” she added.
Jessica Simmons’ determination to not let a single person die that day when she could do something to save them is inspiring in a world that carelessly throws aside vulnerable human beings every day. Her determination inspired many others to act — many of whom may have otherwise sat on the sidelines or felt helpless. Sometimes, all it takes is one person’s inspiring decision to act to save the lives of many. You can read the rest of the story and see pictures from FaithWire and North West Florida Daily News.
