Rayna Michele Montgomery

Rayna Michele Montgomery helped rescue a girl from drowning, Kure Beach, North Carolina, April 18, 2021. The girl, 11, was struggling to stay afloat in rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 feet from shore. A woman had responded and reached the girl and her older sister, but they submerged several times and the woman became unresponsive in the water. A man also entered, but the current took him farther from shore. On the beach, Rayna, 17, high school student, was alerted and she swam to the girl, grasping her by an arm. The girl, panicking, submerged Rayna multiple times as Rayna towed her toward shore. Rayna, with the girl, reached a point about 15 feet from shore, where a man took the girl from Rayna, and brought the girl to the beach. Rayna, too, exited the ocean to the beach, where she vomited water she had swallowed. The girl was checked by firefighters at the scene and did not require further treatment. The girl’s sister also reached shore, while firefighters rescued the woman and man who swam out. Rayna went to the hospital the following day and used an inhaler for three days. She recovered.