KURE BEACH ââ At times Antonio Burns feels heâs still under the water.
Itâs dark and muffled with the sound of sloshing waves overhead. It doesnât help when he awakes in a sweat, drenched.
âI feel like I just jumped out of the pool, or I may not even want to sleep at all â just awful flashbacks,â Burns said. âItâs probably gonna take a long time. Gonna take a long time to mentally recover.â
Nearing a month since Apr. 18, the 27-year-old is working on restrengthening himself mentally since the trauma he endured that Sunday. A photographer from Winston-Salem, Burns headed to the beach for a relaxing day on the sand, snapping shots and capturing reel. Then he saw two girls being towed away in a rip current and caught the eye of a woman across the beach, calling on him to act.
Man recalls tragic rip current rescue in first trip back to Kure Beach
Rip current survivor who rescued girls returns to Kure Beach By Elly Cosgrove | May 3, 2021 at 8:22 PM EDT - Updated May 3 at 9:32 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Antonio Burns still vividly remembers the day at Kure Beach that took the life of beloved Ashley High School teacher and active church member, Jessica Embry.
Both Burns and Embry jumped in the water to save two girls caught in a rip current. Embry tragically paid the ultimate price and passed away at the scene. Burns is paying a different price after a four-day stay at the hospital: medical expenses.
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Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue Director Dave Baker says to ask the lifeguard about the day s conditions.
In the U.S., about one hundred people die in rip currents every year. Sadly, that includes a beloved teacher who lost her life at Kure Beach, where she drowned trying to save two kids from the water. WHQR reports on how to spot dangerous currents and on the emerging tech that can tell us where they might show up.
Jessica Embry, who lost her life saving two others, was the orchestra teacher at Ashley High. At the most recent New Hanover County School Board meeting, Pastor
Winston-Salem resident Antonio Burns helped rescue two girls at Kure Beach
Antonio Burns, a Winston-Salem photographer and videographer, was getting out of the water April 18 at Kure Beach when a nearby friend told him that he saw two girls struggling offshore.
âStop playing,â Burns said to his friend, but then he looked and also realized that the girls were in distress.
âI felt that they didnât know how to swim,â Burns said. âEverything happened so fast.â
Burns, 27, then joined four other beach-goers who entered the water to try to reach the girls who appeared to be about 30 yards offshore. Burns, a graduate of the Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, described himself as an average swimmer.
Antonio Burns, a Winston-Salem photographer and videographer, was getting out of the water on April 18 at Kure Beach near Wilmington when a nearby friend told him that he saw two girls struggling offshore.
âStop playing,â Burns said to his friend, but then he looked and also realized that the girls were in distress.
âI felt that they didnât know how to swim,â Burns said. âEverything happened so fast.â
Burns, 27, then joined four other beach-goers who entered the water to try to reach the girls who appeared to be about 30 yards offshore. Burns, a graduate of the Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, described himself as an average swimmer.