WRCB Television’s David Carroll knew the back story. Despite a double-red-flag warning to stay out of the ocean, a 7-year-old boy had gotten sucked into a wicked undertow at Panama City Beach on June 19 and was rapidly being swept out to sea.
The boy’s mother was caring for his infant sibling, so she couldn’t provide assistance. The boy’s father had not yet reached the beach after leaving the family’s condominium. Watching this potential disaster unfold from a few feet away, Central High School football coach Curt Jones instantly surmised that he was the child’s only hope – emphasis on “only.”
So as he stood in Judge Sherry Paty’s courtroom early Tuesday afternoon, about to describe what happened next to a dozen or so people gathered to honor Jones for the choice he made that June day, Carroll injected a critical question into the proceedings – one that most of us, whether right or wrong, surely would consider under similar circumstances.
“My first thought was, ‘What would I have done?'” Carroll said. “I hope not, but would I have looked around for someone else to help?”
Sitting nearby, recently retired judge Clarence Shattuck added, “Or if you were like a lot of folks today, you might have pulled out a cellphone and taken photographs of it, which would have turned it into a tragedy. We’re so glad you (Jones) did what you did.”