Grappling with the “immeasurable and seemingly never ending” pain of losing his hero son, father Shivy Brooks is proud of his “baby boy” Bryce, who selflessly put the lives of four young children ahead of his own.
Back in 2023, Bryce was vacationing with his family in Florida when he saw a group of young children struggling with powerful rip currents that kept burying their heads underwater.
Not thinking twice, the teenager immediately reacted and jumped in to help. As he did so, the unexpected happened.
Atlanta’s Bryce Brooks, 16, was on a family trip in Pensacola when he and some friends “witnessed four other younger kids who they did not know being pulled by the current,” father Shivy Brooks explained at a news conference.
Without hesitation, Bryce, 16, and two other friends jumped in to help.
“Our son Bryce, while being pulled by currents himself literally called for help, but not for himself, he was calling for help for the little kids he was looking out for,” Shivy, who is a teacher, said.
When Bryce was in the water, he “was pulled under,” his father added of the April 6 incident that happened in an area with no lifeguards. According to reports, at the time, yellow flags, indicating moderate currents, had been issued.
Shivy shared an Instagram clip, pleading people to pray, as he drove to see Bryce in the hospital where he and close family friend Charles Johnson II, or “Uncle Chuck,” were airlifted.
“My oldest son Bryce needs our prayers…Bryce went to rescue another child who was drifting to [sea] and was pulled under by a strong current himself,” he said. “Our dear friend went in to save Bryce and was victim to the waters as well. Both have been airlifted to a local Pensacola Hospitals and I am unaware of their conditions at this moment. His mother and I are in the road to get to him now.”
