Andre Dupree Corbitt died attempting to save Kelly L. Thomas and a boy from drowning, Atlantic City, New Jersey, July 25, 1998. Kelly, 9, and an unidentified boy were wading in the Absecon Inlet off the Atlantic Ocean when a wave struck them, causing them to lose their footing. Carried farther from the beach toward the reaches of the inlet’s strong tidal currents, they called for help. Although he could not swim, Corbitt, 29, construction worker, entered the water from the beach and began to wade out to the children. Another man also entered the water; he swam to the boy, then returned him toward the beach before swimming to Kelly, who was farther out. That man took Kelly to a jetty nearby, then exited the water himself. Corbitt, meanwhile, struggled in deeper water as he was carried farther from shore. Efforts to rescue him failed, and he submerged. His body was located in the inlet three days later; he had drowned.
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