By IE Staff

First published: June 24, 2024, 6:20 p.m. PDT

A Pennsylvania Couple raising six children Children drowned after being swept away by a surf current Florida.

The blended family was taking their first vacation together outside of Port St. Lucie, Florida. Parents Erica Wishard and her fiancé Brian Warter were swept away by a rip current.

Authorities said a child tried to shout for instructions on how to handle the rip current, but the mother and father “panicked” and were pulled under water, officials said.

Warter's father, Larry, tells Inside Edition that the family was looking forward to the vacation. “It was the highlight of the year,” he says.

Wishard had four children and Warter had two sons.

“They were already married and had brought their family together. Both sets of children love each other,” says Larry.

Eight swimmers died in rip currents on the East Coast last week, including two teenagers from Queens, New York, as people sought shelter from the scorching heat wave.

“If you see a surf and the water changes color and recedes, that's a rip current. Avoid that area,” swimming safety expert Jim Spiers tells Inside Edition.

Spires, president of Stop Drowning Now, says if someone gets caught in a rip current, it's important not to fight the water.

“Float on your back and rest. Don't wave with both hands, that will only tire you out. Don't shout to the beach, because you won't be heard there anyway, it's just too loud,” says Spires. “Once you float out and pass the point where the current lets you go, swim parallel to the shore until you're out of the current, then swim back and let the waves bring you back so you conserve energy.”

similar posts