VaMpIrE_lOvEr_
My aunt's ex husband had a close brother who was killed at a Beach by a rip current, here's the article in our local newspaper. Isnt this sad?
Fuji Seal worker killed by rip tide
BECKY BLANTON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Mike Blackerby may not have felt the hand of God, but he's convinced he saw it when his close friend was swept out to sea and drowned Saturday.
"It was the hand of God. That's all I can say," Blackerby said. Blackerby was one of 13 friends and family members accompanying Marion Wheatley on the group's sixth annual vacation to Myrtle Beach and Garden City, S.C.
According to South Carolina authorities, Wheatley, 49, drowned near Garden City Beach where he was swimming with that same group of friends and family members.
A strong rip current churned up by hurricane Jeanne is believed to have caused Wheatley to drown. South Carolina authorities are calling Wheatley's death the storm's first fatality.
"There were four or five of us just standing there. We were in waist deep water. We weren't doing anything dangerous. Waist deep," Blackerby said, holding his hand near his belt, palm down. "We weren't six-feet apart from each other when the wave hit. And it wasn't a big wave. All of a sudden, the sand was gone from beneath our feet. When I looked up we were all about 50 feet apart and Marion was the farthest one out."
News reports from the area claimed Wheatley's wife was also pulled into the strong current.
"We were all struggling. Julie was hollering. I went to help her and John (Spalding) said he'd go after Marion," Blackerby recalled.
By that time Marion Wheatley was 200 feet out. On shore, family members and bystanders called 911. Family members were also going door-to-door along the beach, begging for flotation devices, ropes -- anything to save Wheatley. No one had anything.
'Cloud nine'
It was the beginning of the longest 30 minutes of their lives, but it wasn't supposed to be that way.
"It was a Christmas present," Blackerby said of the beach trip. "Marion had been looking forward to it ever since Christmas. It was all he could think or talk about."
The group had been going to the beach for six years, staying in the same house, enjoying the sand and the sun and the two weeks together.
"Marion was on cloud nine that week. He was happier than I've ever seen him. He was loving it." And he always did.
"In all those years we (the group) never argued, never fought. Never. Not in six years," Blackerby said. Now the group was fighting -- to save one of their own.
"John finally caught up to Marion. He actually had his hand on his shoulder when Marion went under. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up. He was that close.
"Another wave -- a small one, maybe two-feet high if that -- came in and hit both John and Marion again and then Marion was gone. It was the hand of God. When it's your time, it's your time," Blackerby said. "He was drowning and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it."
The authorities are still sorting out their reports.
"We're still working on it, on what happened," said Lt. Commander Curt Dowling, a chaplain with the U.S. Coast Guard in the Georgetown area where the accident occurred.
Authorities declined to release details of the investigation, but said Wheatley was reportedly swimming about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the current pushed him into deeper water. They also said the rip currents in the area at the time were "wicked" to the point of "easily being deadly," thanks to a storm hitting a coastline hundreds of miles away.
Category 3
"What happens out in the ocean can affect you long before you can see what's out there," said Robert McCullough, a North Carolina Department of Natural Resources spokesman. "This year has been really bad for rip currents."
He didn't have an exact count, but knew of at least four other deaths along the coast attributed to the strong but silent currents. And, he said, there could be more.
"Every town and area has a different system, a different count, so there could be more.
"Especially with this hurricane season, we've had them (rip currents) really strong along the coast. In Garden City they've been particularly strong."
Although the day was sunny and beautiful in Garden City, authorities say Wheatley's death may be blamed on Jeanne, which hit the east coast of Florida close to midnight Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane. But darker currents swirled far enough north to pluck swimmers within a rock's throw of shore before the storm ever hit land. Jeanne was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly after hitting land.
Small-craft advisories and rip current warnings at Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area were in effect at the time and were expected to remain through the middle of the week.
No strangers to the dangers of rip currents, the group knew what to do -- don't fight the current. But even that can't help sometimes.
"If you get caught in the wrong one, there's nothing you can do," McCullough said. "Even the best survivalist, the best swimmer, the strongest man can't get out. People overestimate what they're capable of and even if they're really strong and prepared there's a limit to how long they can hold out."
Returning home
Wheatley held out for a long time, but not quite long enough. While waiting for rescue crews to arrive, family members on shore lost sight of him in the waves.
"A woman came out with some binoculars and we found him again," Blackerby said. "By then he was floating. We knew then."
Blackerby said Danny and Randall Spalding, members of the group and Wheatley's brothers-in-law, were finally able to pull Wheatley from the water. The only rescue crews that arrived were a fire truck -- with no water rescue gear -- and another group that "never even got their feet wet," Blackerby said.
"From what I understand, he washed in and his friends pulled him in and attempted CPR but were unable to get him breathing again," McCullough said.
The group returned home that afternoon -- only one week into their two-week vacation. Wheatley's body, however, remained behind -- still held captive by the hurricane.
"He won't be in until Wednesday," Blackerby said. "The hurricane has shut down the airport and they can't fly his body out until then."
Family members are still devastated by their loss and the loss to the community.
"He was the best," Blackerby said. "Everybody says that, but you could meet 500 people and not one of them be as good a man as Marion. He was incredible.
"A friend told us there was a battle going on between good and evil in the world right now. He said sometimes God needs a little extra help so He calls the good ones home. He called Marion home."
Wheatley leaves behind a wife, two sons, two daughters, seven brothers and four sisters along with many longtime friends. He also leaves behind co-workers at American Fuji Seal in Bardstown where he worked for 27 years.
A funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Dominic Catholic Church. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. today. A prayer service will be at 7 p.m
Fuji Seal worker killed by rip tide
BECKY BLANTON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Mike Blackerby may not have felt the hand of God, but he's convinced he saw it when his close friend was swept out to sea and drowned Saturday.
"It was the hand of God. That's all I can say," Blackerby said. Blackerby was one of 13 friends and family members accompanying Marion Wheatley on the group's sixth annual vacation to Myrtle Beach and Garden City, S.C.
According to South Carolina authorities, Wheatley, 49, drowned near Garden City Beach where he was swimming with that same group of friends and family members.
A strong rip current churned up by hurricane Jeanne is believed to have caused Wheatley to drown. South Carolina authorities are calling Wheatley's death the storm's first fatality.
"There were four or five of us just standing there. We were in waist deep water. We weren't doing anything dangerous. Waist deep," Blackerby said, holding his hand near his belt, palm down. "We weren't six-feet apart from each other when the wave hit. And it wasn't a big wave. All of a sudden, the sand was gone from beneath our feet. When I looked up we were all about 50 feet apart and Marion was the farthest one out."
News reports from the area claimed Wheatley's wife was also pulled into the strong current.
"We were all struggling. Julie was hollering. I went to help her and John (Spalding) said he'd go after Marion," Blackerby recalled.
By that time Marion Wheatley was 200 feet out. On shore, family members and bystanders called 911. Family members were also going door-to-door along the beach, begging for flotation devices, ropes -- anything to save Wheatley. No one had anything.
'Cloud nine'
It was the beginning of the longest 30 minutes of their lives, but it wasn't supposed to be that way.
"It was a Christmas present," Blackerby said of the beach trip. "Marion had been looking forward to it ever since Christmas. It was all he could think or talk about."
The group had been going to the beach for six years, staying in the same house, enjoying the sand and the sun and the two weeks together.
"Marion was on cloud nine that week. He was happier than I've ever seen him. He was loving it." And he always did.
"In all those years we (the group) never argued, never fought. Never. Not in six years," Blackerby said. Now the group was fighting -- to save one of their own.
"John finally caught up to Marion. He actually had his hand on his shoulder when Marion went under. He grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up. He was that close.
"Another wave -- a small one, maybe two-feet high if that -- came in and hit both John and Marion again and then Marion was gone. It was the hand of God. When it's your time, it's your time," Blackerby said. "He was drowning and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it."
The authorities are still sorting out their reports.
"We're still working on it, on what happened," said Lt. Commander Curt Dowling, a chaplain with the U.S. Coast Guard in the Georgetown area where the accident occurred.
Authorities declined to release details of the investigation, but said Wheatley was reportedly swimming about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the current pushed him into deeper water. They also said the rip currents in the area at the time were "wicked" to the point of "easily being deadly," thanks to a storm hitting a coastline hundreds of miles away.
Category 3
"What happens out in the ocean can affect you long before you can see what's out there," said Robert McCullough, a North Carolina Department of Natural Resources spokesman. "This year has been really bad for rip currents."
He didn't have an exact count, but knew of at least four other deaths along the coast attributed to the strong but silent currents. And, he said, there could be more.
"Every town and area has a different system, a different count, so there could be more.
"Especially with this hurricane season, we've had them (rip currents) really strong along the coast. In Garden City they've been particularly strong."
Although the day was sunny and beautiful in Garden City, authorities say Wheatley's death may be blamed on Jeanne, which hit the east coast of Florida close to midnight Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane. But darker currents swirled far enough north to pluck swimmers within a rock's throw of shore before the storm ever hit land. Jeanne was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly after hitting land.
Small-craft advisories and rip current warnings at Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area were in effect at the time and were expected to remain through the middle of the week.
No strangers to the dangers of rip currents, the group knew what to do -- don't fight the current. But even that can't help sometimes.
"If you get caught in the wrong one, there's nothing you can do," McCullough said. "Even the best survivalist, the best swimmer, the strongest man can't get out. People overestimate what they're capable of and even if they're really strong and prepared there's a limit to how long they can hold out."
Returning home
Wheatley held out for a long time, but not quite long enough. While waiting for rescue crews to arrive, family members on shore lost sight of him in the waves.
"A woman came out with some binoculars and we found him again," Blackerby said. "By then he was floating. We knew then."
Blackerby said Danny and Randall Spalding, members of the group and Wheatley's brothers-in-law, were finally able to pull Wheatley from the water. The only rescue crews that arrived were a fire truck -- with no water rescue gear -- and another group that "never even got their feet wet," Blackerby said.
"From what I understand, he washed in and his friends pulled him in and attempted CPR but were unable to get him breathing again," McCullough said.
The group returned home that afternoon -- only one week into their two-week vacation. Wheatley's body, however, remained behind -- still held captive by the hurricane.
"He won't be in until Wednesday," Blackerby said. "The hurricane has shut down the airport and they can't fly his body out until then."
Family members are still devastated by their loss and the loss to the community.
"He was the best," Blackerby said. "Everybody says that, but you could meet 500 people and not one of them be as good a man as Marion. He was incredible.
"A friend told us there was a battle going on between good and evil in the world right now. He said sometimes God needs a little extra help so He calls the good ones home. He called Marion home."
Wheatley leaves behind a wife, two sons, two daughters, seven brothers and four sisters along with many longtime friends. He also leaves behind co-workers at American Fuji Seal in Bardstown where he worked for 27 years.
A funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Dominic Catholic Church. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. today. A prayer service will be at 7 p.m
