Jessica Lea Embry

Jessica Lea Embry died while attempting to help rescue two girls from drowning, Kure Beach, North Carolina, April 18, 2021. Two sisters, 11 and 14, were in shallow water in the Atlantic Ocean near shore when they were pulled by a strong rip current to a point about 110 feet from the beach. Embry, 40, fine arts teacher, was on the beach nearby and responded. She reached the girls in water about 9 feet deep. A man also entered the water to assist, but he was pulled to a point about 300 feet from shore by the strong current. Embry briefly held onto at least one of the girls, but she repeatedly submerged in the rough surf. Embry lost consciousness and floated facedown in the water. A teenage girl on the beach was alerted and responded. She grasped the younger girl by an arm and towed her toward shore. A man responded and reached them in wadable water, and aided the 11-year-old girl to the beach. The girl’s sister also reached shore, while firefighters rescued the man who swam out. At some point, Embry became unresponsive and floated facedown in the water. Both girls were checked at the scene by paramedics and did not require further treatment. Firefighters moved Embry’s body to the beach and attempted CPR on her, but she could not be revived. She had drowned.