Christopher J. Chapman died attempting to help save a boy from drowning, Pensacola Beach, Florida, April 3, 2001. A 10-year-old boy was swimming with a boogie board in the Gulf of Mexico when he became caught by a strong current that took him farther from shore and kept him from returning. From the beach, the boy’s mother and another woman waded and swam to him. They grasped hold of the board and struggled to swim free of the current. Chapman, 44, food and beverage manager, was walking on the beach in the vicinity when he saw the situation. He immediately entered the water and also waded and swam to the boy. After the group was submerged in the breaking waves, the other woman helped the boy and his mother regain their hold of the board, and she continued struggling to free them from the current. Aided from the water by others, they were nearly exhausted but did not require medical treatment, and they recovered. Chapman was removed from the water by arriving rescue personnel, but he could not be revived. He had drowned.
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