Little League coach drowns while saving son and his teammates

Little League coach Dan McGahey gave the ultimate sacrifice when he attempted to save his son and three of his teammates in the Florida surf.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution states that no one was overly panicked and the rescue did not appear to be a treacherous one. The boys had actually found refuge on a sandbar nearby. Coach jay Morris says:

We thought we were going into five feet of deep water to pull the kids out. No one thought much of it

. While collecting the boys, McGahey disappeared in the undertow off Navarre Beach. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that McGahey had also jumped in with the boys falling away in water over their heads. His son Noah, 11, was among them and is also one of the team's best players. The rescue became increasingly more difficult when the older McGahey went farther out. The Razorbacks' head coach said:

A wave would come and take you under and then pull you out.

Two of the other fathers found Darin McGahey and pulled him unto the beach. They then administered CPR. Other parents attempted to keep Noah McGahey and Austin, his half-brother, from the horrible sight. Morris said, "Our focus was on the kids." McGahey leaves behind his wife of 12 years, Ann Hightower, and his three sons. Darin McGahey had coached since he himself quit playing, sometimes coaching three teams at once, states the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Morris said:

He was always at the ball field. He loved baseball. He knew how to relate to the kids, to get them to understand how to play the game.