North Carolina

Vacationing firefighter saves 3 girls from Emerald Isle rip current

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. — A vacationing firefighter from New York state is being credited with saving three girls who were caught in a rip current off the North Carolina coast.

Firefighter Sean O'Gorman of the Oswego Fire Department was with his family at Emerald Isle Thursday when he saw two young girls on boogie boards struggling to get back to shore and a third girl who became stuck trying to save them.

The 50-year-old O'Gorman said the girls' mother called 911, but he decided not to wait. O'Gorman used a special technique to reach the girls, and said by the time rescue personnel arrived, all were back on shore.

The rescue comes two days after a 4-year-old boy was swept out to sea from a Kitty Hawk beach.

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