By Mike McCombs and Amber Hewitt
The Island News
A North Carolina man drowned at Hunting Island State Park just after noon on Friday, July 4, while trying to save his children.
The Beaufort County Coroner’s Office, on Saturday morning, identified the deceased as 38-year-old Paul Peters from Indian Trail, N.C.
Peters and his wife, Emily, and their two children – Asher, 4, and Ezra, 7 — were in Beaufort County on vacation, according to a source at the scene of the incident.
According to witnesses at the scene, between 11:35 and 11:40 a.m., on Hunting Island’s North Beach, Peters was in the water with his children when they got “in trouble,” caught in a rip current.
When he realized he was going under, Peters held his youngest son up and above the water. Several men went into the water to help. They were able to get the children to safety, but by the time they could get Peters to shore, he had been under the water for some time.
Bystanders started to perform CPR, and EMS continued the life-saving efforts upon arrival. According to witnesses, EMS “pumped a bunch of water out, but he never regained consciousness.”
The Coroner’s Office declared him dead, on scene, at 12:10 p.m.
Sixteen-year-old Taylor Durrance of Beaufort and her family were in the middle of the rescue efforts on Friday.
Durrance said she was sitting on the beach, listening to music, when she got a strange feeling. She said she looked up and realized something was happening.
“I saw people surrounding this man on the beach,” she said. “I didn’t really see them doing CPR yet, I think they had just [dragged] him on shore.”
She said she called out to her father, Bryan, and her brother, Matthew, because she thought this man was drowning.
“That’s when my brother found out his little boys were drowning as well,” she said.
Taylor Durrance said Ezra was pulled out of the water first, but she didn’t believe he was actually drowning, but had “just swallowed some water.”
Asher was being helped by “a man in pink shorts,” though they were repeatedly being pulled back in the current.
Matthew Durrance, 22, went out into the water and retrieved Asher from the man and brought him to Taylor.
Taylor Durrance said she continued to slap Asher’s back, getting the water out of him a bit at a time, until there was one big cough and he got rid of most of the water and could breathe.
She said when the 4-year-old was able to talk, he immediately asked, “Where’s my dad?”
“It just broke my heart,” she said.
While all of this was happening, Taylor Durrance said her father, Bryan Durrance, was among the group of bystanders surrounding Paul Peters and performing CPR. She said Emily Peters asked her to watch her children while she joined the group of people tending to her husband.
Taylor Durrance said the whole situation was “really sad” and a bit surreal. It might sound strange, she said, but “It felt kind of … quiet.”
This is the second drowning this week at Hunting Island. Steven Thackston, a 65-year-old male from Decatur, Ga., was pronounced dead from drowning at approximately 4:45 p.m., Tuesday, July 1, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
The red flag was flying at Hunting Island’s North Beach on Friday, which indicates High Hazard, meaning the surf is hazardous, often due to strong currents, high waves, or other unsafe conditions.
Under a red flag, swimming is often prohibited and not recommended for anyone other than experienced, strong swimmers.
When speaking with The Island News, Durrance said she wouldn’t have normally talked about an event like this, but she struggled to sleep Friday night, and every time she closed her eyes, she kept reliving the event.
She felt like those not from the Beaufort area might not realize just how serious the conditions can be at Hunting Island.
“These oceans aren’t what they think they are,” she said. “They have to be aware of the currents. If it’s a red flag, don’t go in the water.”
Editor’s Note: This story was edited to reflect the fact Paul Peters was in the water with his sons when they were caught in a riptide.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
Amber Hewitt is a photographer for The Island News.
