A shuttle driver with no formal rescue experience pulled three tourists from a dangerous rip current off the Louisiana coast in an act state officials called heroic. Jordan Matthew, who works for Reliant Shuttle, was dropping off visitors from Oklahoma at a Grand Isle beach when one of the group frantically waved him down.
A young boy had been caught in the current, Matthew learned. When a relative jumped in to help, the water seized her too. Then a third member of the group found herself trapped as well. Matthew watched from shore as all three bobbed under the crashing waves at the edge of Elmer's Island wildlife refuge.
He ran into the water without hesitation. Matthew pulled the boy and one woman to shallow water, then guided them to shore. He then swam back out for the third victim, who had drifted farther, grabbed her, and carried her back to land, at one point hoisting her over his shoulder.
Matthew, a native of Mandeville, Louisiana, described his mental state to local news outlet WWL Louisiana in an interview published June 15. "There's this thing I call 'absolute focus'," he said. "I activated that in my mind, just locked in, and went one by one to get them." He told those struggling in the water to stay calm and conserve energy, but said otherwise his mind was in overdrive mode.
The three tourists were shaken but physically unharmed. They later invited Matthew to dinner to thank him. The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries posted about the rescue on social media June 13, calling Matthew's actions "decisive" and "heroic" and praising his "quick thinking" and "willingness to act in a critical moment."
Rip currents are narrow bands of water flowing rapidly away from shore. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates they kill roughly 100 people annually in the United States. The agency advises people caught in a rip current to swim parallel to shore and at an angle back to land, rather than fighting directly against the current.
Matthew took the opportunity to warn others about the power of these currents. "If there's calm water, there's bound to be a rip," he told WWL, noting that people unfamiliar with coastal conditions often underestimate the danger.
Author James Rodriguez: "A guy in a shuttle uniform just did what trained lifeguards train for years to do, and he did it clean with zero panic."
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