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Father of 3 drowns while saving children from rip current during Florida vacation
He died of cardiac arrest.
U.S. News
Father of 3 drowns while saving children from rip current during Florida vacation
Ryan Jennings was swimming in Juno Beach with his 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter when they were caught in a rip current.
April 6, 2026, 1:49 PM EDT / Updated April 6, 2026, 5:57 PM EDT
By Doha Madani
A father of three died last week saving two of his children from a rip current while they were vacationing in Florida, family members and friends said.
Ryan Jennings and his family, from Maine, were on the beach swimming in Juno Beach on Wednesday afternoon, his wife, Emily Jennings, told NBC News. She was on the shore with their youngest daughter and niece building sandcastles, while he, their 12-year-old son and their 9-year-old daughter were in the water. ... They were then suddenly caught in a rip current, she said.
Her son, Jax, ran to shore and said his dad and sister were drowning. Ryan Jennings threw their son and told him to swim to shore, while he held their daughter above his head so she wouldn't take in any water, Emily Jennings said.
{snip}
An incident report from the Juno Beach Police Department investigation confirmed that the Jennings family were rescued from the water. According to the report, the children told officers that they were struggling in the water when their father “came into the ocean to save them.”
{snip}
Father of 3 drowns while saving children from rip current during Florida vacation
Ryan Jennings was swimming in Juno Beach with his 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter when they were caught in a rip current.
April 6, 2026, 1:49 PM EDT / Updated April 6, 2026, 5:57 PM EDT
By Doha Madani
A father of three died last week saving two of his children from a rip current while they were vacationing in Florida, family members and friends said.
Ryan Jennings and his family, from Maine, were on the beach swimming in Juno Beach on Wednesday afternoon, his wife, Emily Jennings, told NBC News. She was on the shore with their youngest daughter and niece building sandcastles, while he, their 12-year-old son and their 9-year-old daughter were in the water. ... They were then suddenly caught in a rip current, she said.
Her son, Jax, ran to shore and said his dad and sister were drowning. Ryan Jennings threw their son and told him to swim to shore, while he held their daughter above his head so she wouldn't take in any water, Emily Jennings said.
{snip}
An incident report from the Juno Beach Police Department investigation confirmed that the Jennings family were rescued from the water. According to the report, the children told officers that they were struggling in the water when their father “came into the ocean to save them.”
{snip}