‘His last gift’: father dies saving two of his children from drowning off Florida coast

The selfless nature of Ryan Jennings’ actions has gained widespread attention online – and inspired his widow, Emily, to write a heartbreaking social media post which read: “His last gift to me was returning my children alive.”

Emily also revealed that the couple had just learned they were expecting their fourth child. “I’m not really sure how to go on ever again,” she added. “I guess second by second.”

Authorities say Jennings, 46, was swimming off Juno Beach on the afternoon of 1 April with his son, 12, and daughter, nine, when a rip current ensnared them.

Jennings ultimately threw his son, Jax, out of harm’s way and instructed him to get help, Emily later wrote. Then, Ryan held his daughter, Charlie, above water until she could be brought to safety, too, according to the post from Emily, who was on the beach at the time building sandcastles with the couple’s younger daughter, Bowie, as well as a niece.

Citing local emergency response officials, the Palm Beach Post reported that lifeguards – who do not typically patrol that part of Juno Beach – pulled four people to the shore. Paramedics reportedly took three to the hospital.

A Juno Beach police department incident report said officers had helped pull Jennings out of the water. Officers said he was “unconscious, unresponsive and not breathing” by the time they encountered him.

Jennings was brought to a hospital in the nearby community of Jupiter, and a doctor pronounced him dead, according to police.

His children told officers on the scene that they were struggling in the water when their father “came into the ocean to save them”, the police report noted.

NBC News reported that local emergency response officials reported conditions on the day of Jennings’ death were “consistent with the potential for rip current activity”.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) defines rip currents as narrow channels of rapidly moving water. They are involved in the deaths of about 100 people annually, and Noaa distinguishes them from riptides – which involve tidal water moving through inlets and the mouths of estuaries, embayments and harbors.

In the tribute that she subsequently posted for her late husband, Emily Jennings described him as “my soulmate and my best friend” – with whom she shared a love for a dozen years “that most people never find” in their lives.

“You gave me the most beautiful 12 years of my life,” her post said. “You always had us. Our calm in any storm.”

Emily Jennings, 35, elaborated on her marriage in an article on the news site centralmaine.com. She told the outlet she was a single mother when she met Ryan, and he gave her and her son a place to stay after a fire destroyed her apartment.

Ryan went on to take in Emily’s son as her own, bonding with the child over the Elvie Shane song My Boy, according to the outlet’s article.

“He ain’t my blood, ain’t got my name / But if he did, I’d feel the same,” the song’s lyrics say.

The couple got married, had two more daughters and were preparing to welcome their fourth child when they traveled to Juno Beach from their home in North Yarmouth, Maine, a suburb of Portland.

Ryan made his living as a marketing executive, his father-in-law, Steve Woods, told the Palm Beach Post.

Jennings’ mother, Gail McLaughlin Toti, said in her own social media post that she was grateful for first responders’ efforts to save her son.

She told centralmaine.com that her family planned to launch a scholarship in Ryan’s honor: $5,000 annually to a student from his community who best embodies his selfless spirit.

“It’s … about character,” she said to the outlet. “So that all the kids growing up in the school system – Ryan’s kids – they’ll all understand what it means to have an open heart.”