National Media Event: May 24, 2004

Sea Grant Remarks: LaMotte

My name is Sandee LaMotte. This is my son Ryan, and my daughter Krysta. My husband Larry LaMotte cannot be here with us today because he drowned in a rip current last June. We're here to tell Larry's story in the hopes that it can save other families from the pain of losing a loved one to a dangerous current. Because the truly tragic fact is that if we had known last summer the information you've heard today, Larry would still be with us.

Larry was a professional journalist. He and I helped start CNN back in 1980, and during his career there Larry covered nearly every type of major news story. He'd been shot at in El Salvador, stood at the epicenter of the Mexico City earthquake, survived hurricanes from Galveston to Haiti, even traveled to Africa to do a story on the deadly Ebola virus. He'd been a bit of everywhere, and knew a bit of everything. An educated person. But neither of us had heard much about rip currents when we saw the red flag flying at Grayton Beach, Florida last year.

It was June 8^th, a Sunday, our first full day at the beach. We waited for the hot sun to ease and headed out about 4pm. We read the red flag warning sign as we entered the sand, but it was unclear. A red flag "COULD mean dangerous currents in the water"? We looked out at the crowd. Families were playing in the surf, a sheriff's deputy drove through the crowd and off the beach without comment. Then we saw the surfers out in the waves. Ah, the warning must be meant for them.

And so like all the other families, Larry and the kids played in the waves at the edge of the shore. Around 6 p.m. the waves were picking up and it was time to come in. I left first, to get a head start on dinner. Ten minutes later Ryan and Krysta came bursting through the door. "Mom, come quick. Ryan was stuck in the water and Daddy went in after him. Now Daddy's gone!"

I ran as hard and fast as I could, but by the time I arrived it was too late. Larry was gone, sucked out by a rip current. I could see his body floating in the waves. But it doesn't end there. Brave people had gone into the water to save my son and my husband. They did save Ryan, but one man, Ken Brindley, husband to Melanie, father to 3 year old Blake and six year old Madeline, died trying to save my husband. Two families now the victim of one deadly current. Later we discovered that eight families lost loved ones to rip currents on that ONE day. . . one of the deadliest days in Florida history.

But you know what the true tragedy of that day was? It didn't need to happen. If the beach rental agency had handed Larry and I brochures on rip currents such as NOAA and USLA have produced, we would have known how to protect our family. If the sign at Grayton beach had more clearly said "Red flags mean do NOT enter the water, even at the shore," then we would have known that rip currents can grab you from anywhere in the water. If Ken Brindley had received information or training on how to help rescue those trapped in rip currents, he would have known to tell Ryan to swim parallel to shore away from the rip, and helped him out farther down the beach. That is exactly how Ryan was rescued. Easily, safely.

This summer many of you will head to beaches to have that well deserved, relaxing family vacation. Before you go, listen to Larry and Ken's story. Teach your kids beach safety and how to act if they are in trouble in the water. Make sure you know the true meaning of the warning flags--and follow them. Ask that those who rent to you provide you with the valuable safety information that is being offered by USLA and NOAA. Tell them you want lifeguards. Let them know that you consider a safe beach a necessity before you spend your money. . . make it a plus for their economies. Raise your voices. Be heard.

Then Larry and Ken and all those others who died on June 8 and in the days that followed will have given their lives to save others. And that is all that matters to us now. Making sure that no other families suffer our fate. Larry's fate.