Colorado Springs teen helps save family off Georgia coast

A Colorado Springs teen and his friends are being credited for saving a family in peril off the coast of Georgia this week, but he’s crediting God for putting him in the right place at the right time.

Zach Gross, 15, was visiting friends and paddleboarding at St. Simons Island at the same time that Svetla Prather and her four children went for a swim Wednesday afternoon, according to The Brunswick News.

But while Prather and her kids were swimming, strong currents came after a high tide and pulled them out about a quarter-mile into the ocean.

Prather and her four children -two 9-year-old twins, a 10-year-old girl, and a 16-year-old boy – couldn’t make it back to shore.

“We were far enough out that I couldn’t see the beach anymore,” the 16-year-old, Sebastian, told The Brunswick News.

“We tried and tried, but we couldn’t get back. We just got sucked out more and more.”
One of the people with Zach, Alana Hampton, heard their screams and realized they needed help. Hampton called 911 while Zach, Alan Akridge and Chad Erskine paddled out to where they were.

Erskine was able to retrieve one of the twins while Akridge and Zach paddled out to the other four and helped them stay afloat until a lifeguard arrived with a jet ski.

“We wouldn’t be here without them,” Prather told The Brunswick News.

“It’s one of those things where God wanted us to be here,” Zach told The Brunswick News.

Zach’s grandmother tells KRDO he’ll be a freshman at Pine Creek High School this fall, and he already has a sweet summer story to tell.