Good Samaritan Saved Woman, Child In Ocean City. Then He Vanished

OCEAN CITY, NJ — He came into their lives for a brief moment, when he was needed most. Now, a South Jersey woman wants to thank him for saving her life, as well as the life of her 11-year-old daughter.

Renee Teague, 39, and her daughter, Trinity, were visiting Ocean City this week when they became victims of a nearly fatal situation. They were in the ocean at the 25th Street Beach Tuesday afternoon when they got caught up in some strong rip currents.

“We were pretty far out, the water was about halfway up to our waist,” Teague said. “We’re both good swimmers, but we just got caught. The currents pushed us to the left, and they pulled us back to the right.”

She said the situation got worse quick. She kept getting pulled under, and she doesn’t think she would’ve been able to save her daughter.

They were at the beach with her father, Phil Matt, and Teague’s other daughter, 7-year-old Madison. Matt was with Madison on the beach at the time, and didn’t know what was happening. The lifeguards weren’t aware of the situation, either, as Teague said she wasn’t yelling for help. However, Trinity was calling out, “Mom! Mom!,” and Teague believes this is what caught the Good Samaritan’s attention.

“He grabbed her and took my hand,” Teague said. “He pulled us toward him and helped us get to the shoreline.”

He helped them get back to her father and her other daughter on the beach. After a brief rest, they looked up to thank him, but he was gone. They searched for another block in an attempt to find him, with no success.

“I just want to thank him so much,” said Teague, who lives in Pemberton Borough with her husband and their two children.

She described the man as tall, in his 20s with long dark brown or black curly hair. He was wearing blue swim trunks.

“I didn’t really get a good look at his face at the time because I was so concerned about my daughter,” Matt said.

They were visiting Teague’s aunt’s house on 25th Street in Ocean City. Earlier in the week, the National Weather Service had warned of dangerously powerful rip currents as a result of Hurricane Chris, which formed off the coast of North Carolina.

Before this, Teague had never had a problem going in the ocean, but she is still shaken as a result of this incident.

“I’m still terrified now. We’re not going back in the ocean this summer,” Teague said. “ … He definitely saved our lives. I will forever be grateful to this man who didn’t have to help.”

Anyone who can help Teague find this man is asked to email rteague34@gmail.com.

The attached images of Renee Teague and her daughters, Trinity and Madison, on the beach after the incident were provided.