What was supposed to be a dinner at the beach turned into a rescue operation for two Alabama natives who saw a group of people drowning at Panama City Beach.
Jessica and Derek Simmons were enjoying time with family before the drowning happened near the M.B. Miller County Pier around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The Jefferson County couple moved to Panama City last year after Derek Simmons accepted a management position.
As she swam with family members, Jessica Simmons noticed something was wrong when she saw the flashing police lights on the boardwalk. She thought someone was getting a ticket at first, but everyone's attention was focused on the water. Then she thought it was a shark and started to get out the water.
The couple went closer to the scene and started to ask bystanders what was going on. The news made Jessica Simmons' heart sink: A group of people got caught in the rip tide. But the couple didn't just focus on the negative. They started coordinating a plan to rescue the drowning swimmers.
Helping others is an instinct to Jessica Simmons. When a tornado ripped through a neighborhood in Alabama, Jessica Simmons was out in the wreckage with her chainsaw. They had all the tools to help a drowning victim, she said. She had a boogie board and always thought of herself as a strong swimmer.
"I consider myself a pretty positive person even during tragedies," Jessica Simmons told Al.com Monday night. "When someone like me can swim, why not use your abilities to help someone?"
Jessica Simmons said the drowning victims were asking for a flotation device and there were people standing on the beach. So Derek Simmons, his niece and a few others started gathering people to form a human chain. Jessica Simmons got on her board and swam towards those in need with her husband close behind as the chain stretched more than 100 yards off shore.
Once she got there, she found nine people struggling to stay afloat, including two small children, a mother, a grandmother, an older son and another couple. Jessica and Derek Simmons, along with a few others, started hauling people onto the boogie board and pushed them towards the human chain. Once the distressed swimmers made it to the chain, people started pulling the victims to shore.
Jessica Simmons said the grandmother, who had a heart attack during the ordeal, was her biggest concern. The waves were throwing the grandmother's body around and it took a lot of strength from the grandmother's son-in-law, Derek Simmons and another person to keep her head above the water during the rescue.
"She kept telling us to let her go and save ourselves," Jessica Simmons said. "But I wasn't going to let that happen."
After about an hour of swimming, everyone was back on the shore safe. Jessica Simmons said her mother-in-law and others started to applaud, but the couple doesn't want to take any credit. She said she was more amazed by people of different lifestyles coming together - hand in hand-- coming together to help someone in need. She said even those who couldn't swim stood closer to the shore to help out.
"We need more of that," Jessica Simmons said. "We divide ourselves in our own personal life styles, but when tragedies happen, like 9/11 or tornadoes ripping houses down, we come together as a whole. It shows people still have humanity. That when someone is drowning, we just can't turn our backs on them. We have to do something."