Alan B. Hall died saving Ruby S. Monahan from drowning, Dunedin, Florida, April 8, 2012. Ruby, 5, and her siblings were in wadable water of the Gulf of Mexico just off a beach on Honeymoon Island when a strong tidal current pulled them farther out, into deeper water. Their parents went out after them but struggled to support them. Hall, 65, retired sales representative, was on the beach in the vicinity and saw the situation develop. He immediately ran into the water, swam out to the family, and offered assistance. Ruby’s mother passed her off to Hall, who grasped her and took her parallel to shore, to escape the current. Then encountering difficulty himself, Hall became inert. Ruby made her way to safety at the beach as two men swam to Hall, one of them taking life vests. Those men secured Hall until a nearby boater approached and returned him to shore. Resuscitation efforts both there and at the hospital were unsuccessful, as Hall had drowned. Ruby’s family was returned to safety by personal watercraft.
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