Sorry about the loss of life. One of the first things they teach you in water safety courses, lifesaving classes, whitewater rescue, is do not attempt a rescue if you think you can't make it. It's harsh. But it's true. I've had several instances of huge, body-builder type guys losing their footing in calm lake water and just absolutely start thrashing around in a blind panic. No way was I gonna try and run up and grab them. I had to wait till they tuckered themselves out. People were screaming at me to save them. No way. They'd have killed me too. My father attempted a rescue in Lake Michigan surf back in the 30's. The guy almost killed him. The guy and my father both had to be rescued.
I saw a guy throw a rope to a girl that got tossed out of a rubber raft. She had a life vest on. She wrapped the rope around herself and tied it in a knot. The current was strong. The guy on the other end of the rope was having trouble holding on, so he clipped the rope to a post. Well, the girl lost her grip on whatever she was holding, the current pulled her downstream, the rope went taught, and now the water starts rushing over the girl pushing her under. She'd bob up and scream. The current would push her under. Bob up and scream, get pushed under again. No one could pull that rope to get it unclipped and she couldn't untie it. My supervisors quickly assessed the situation, ran upstream, dove in, maneuvered over near her and as he passed her, he cut the rope with his knife, freeing her. They floated downstream and we picked them up with the Zodiac boat. She was seconds from death. The guy that threw her the rope never should have had her tie it around her, and he never should have tied it to a post. Despite being trained to never tie off a rope, he tied off a rope. He knew better, but did it anyway. That's how even trained professionals die or cause death when they, for whatever reason, don't follow their training. A dead rescuer is of no use to a victim. It's noble. It's horrible. But sometimes you just have to stop and watch the horror unfold and live with the consequences. It's awful.
