Rushing to save swimmers, a former baseball player and police officer loses his life

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Chase Childers, a former minor league baseball player and ex-police officer, has died after rushing into the ocean to save swimmers in a rip current, according to police in South Carolina and a GoFundMe page for his family.

Trying to help a family of five, Childers paid “the highest sacrifice with his life in front of his three children and wife,” according to the fundraiser. Childers died Sunday, the police department for Pawleys Island, which is south of Myrtle Beach, stated in a post on X.

Police said he and another person “entered the water to help 4 – 5 individuals who were in distress. Sadly, Mr. Childers was caught in the rip current, as well. He died trying to save others.”

When the family and the other man came back to shore, police, firefighters and the Coast Guard searched for Childers, WCBD-TV in Charleston reported. His body was recovered about 90 minutes later.

WCBD-TV reported that Childers, 38, lived in Dallas with his family, but they were vacationing on Pawleys Island. The island’s police chief, Michael Fanning, said he believes Childers’ “first responder instincts kicked in” when he saw the family in distress.

A rip current is a fast-moving column of water that flows away from the shore toward open water. Officials say swimmers caught in one should remain calm and then swim parallel to the shore to escape the current.

Childers grew up in Georgia’s Cobb County, which is northeast of Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Childers helped lead the North Cobb Christian School to a state baseball championship in 2003 and continued his baseball career at Georgia State University.

Childers signed with the Baltimore Orioles in 2009 and played two seasons in the minor leagues for teams in Florida and West Virginia, according to MLB.com.

Childers served as a police officer in Cobb County from 2011 to 2014, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. WCBD-TV reported that he received the Cobb County Police Department Life Saving award in 2012, while the GoFundMe page said he had saved several lives.

“Most importantly, he was a loving son, a dedicated brother, a treasured friend, an exceptional father to his three wonderful children, and the husband of his beautiful wife, Nataley, who had been his soulmate and best friend since they were teenagers,” the GoFundMe page stated.