Father-of-four, 44, drowns while trying to save his son from rip current on Massachusetts beach

A 44-year-old father of four died Wednesday while trying to save his son from dangerous currents on a Massachusetts beach.

Gary Simard was enjoying a beach day with his family at Salisbury Beach in Northern Massachusetts when the tragic incident occurred.

Simard’s son was swimming in the ocean and became caught in a strong current that dragged him away from shore and deeper into the water.

His father heard him calling for help and took action to save his son. His son was brought safely to shore by two bystanders, but Simard tragically died after being stuck in the water for more than 20 minutes.

Simard’s family called him a hero who lived for his four children. He would take his children to Salisbury Beach to pass on the same tradition he grew up with with his own family.

Simard’s mother Linda described him as ‘the best father ever’ and said ‘he died trying to save his son’.

She said: ‘My son is a hero. He saved his son and lost his life for it, but he is my hero.”

There were two other bystanders who witnessed the boy being dragged out by the current and attempted to assist with the rescue, but during their efforts Simard was pulled 100 meters from shore.

One of the bystanders, Robin DiNatale, said he heard a child say “help, help” as the father “ran into the water and they both got into trouble.”

NiTale called 911 after realizing the situation was an emergency.

Jason Evan Iarossi was another bystander at the scene. He told NBC 10 Boston that the waves were between four and six feet high.

Iarossi said, “We swam to the child. We were in over our heads and it was too much. It was too much.’

The bystander said he thinks the water is rougher since Hurricane Lee passed through New England. He said, “I don’t think anyone belongs in the water.”

The other bystander who tried to join the efforts to save the son was Kenny Crosby.

Crosby said, ‘The child went on, and then the father ran away,

‘Then the father also shouted ‘Help.’ I had no choice, I had to run there,

“Little teenage boy. His father looked like he was having a hard time. The child grabbed my hand. We started swimming, and I don’t know. It was like survival mode.”

The two helpers managed to swim back to shore, but the father was stuck in the current for 20 minutes before being rescued.

Emergency services quickly arrived and performed CPR on Simard at the scene, but after he was rushed to the Seabrook emergency room, he was later pronounced dead.

Simard’s father – also called Gary – said: ‘The gentleman who went out had a decision, I think – to save my grandson or my son. He made the right decision because he almost didn’t make it.’

Earlier this summer, rip currents hit the Jersey Shore, causing three drownings.

Over Labor Day weekend, beaches in New Jersey experienced rough waves and riptides that caused the deaths of three swimmers.

A 22-year-old man drowned in Beach Haven, New Jersey, and so it happened identified as Edwin Antonio Made Sanchez of the Dominican Republic.

Sanchez was swimming in the ocean at Fifth Street Beach in Beach Haven, Ocean County, when he drowned in the rough waves caused by rip currents.

Two other swimmers, along with Sanchez, were caught in the dangerous riptides at Beach Haven, prompting lifeguards to create a human chain to search for them.

Lifeguards pulled the two swimmers safely to shore, but efforts by police and emergency medical services in the area could not save the 22-year-old man from drowning in the rough waters.

Some swimmers were fortunately saved from drowning in the same current that weekend.

Stephen Houser, 35, who was out with his family, was filming a YouTube video of himself surfing when he saw swimmer Gabe McCabe struggling in the water at Sea Bright beach.

Houser used his surfboard as a life raft and managed to pull the struggling swimmer out of the dangerous water.