A 10-year-old girl pulled from the surf off Myrtle Beach is now speaking out about the DeKalb County teacher who died saving her life. Summer McCallum says she remembers waves crashing over her head as she struggled in the water on August 7, moments before 47-year-old Derrick Moore swam out and told her to grab his arm.
Moore, a health and physical education teacher at Rockbridge Elementary School who lived in Loganville, jumped into the ocean near 10th Avenue South after spotting Summer in distress, according to Atlanta News First. Summer's uncle, identified only as Earnest, had already noticed his niece struggling and fought the waves trying to reach her himself. Moore reached the girl first and told her to grab his arm; she did, and he began pulling her toward safety while Earnest continued battling the current nearby.
A Rescue That Cost Him His Life
Moore struggled after reaching Summer, and the current ultimately pulled him under, according to the report. Other rescuers and good Samaritans eventually reached both Summer and Earnest, and Earnest later said Moore saved both his life and his niece's life. Moore, however, did not return to shore. He was credited with saving two lives that evening even as his own was lost beneath the waves.
The rescue happened shortly after 7:30 p.m., after city beach lifeguards had already finished their daily shifts, according to WSB-TV. Standard summer lifeguard hours along Grand Strand beaches run daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., per Safe Beach Day, meaning no professional lifeguards were on duty by the time Moore and the two swimmers went into the water. Myrtle Beach Police and the Horry County Coroner's Office reported that Moore's body washed ashore the next morning near 11th Avenue South, nearly a mile from where he had entered the ocean, following an overnight multi-agency search that included the U.S. Coast Guard and Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue.
A Veteran Educator Remembered for Selflessness
Moore was a 20-plus-year veteran of the DeKalb County School District and a father of four, according to AJC.com. He was named Teacher of the Year at Jolly Elementary School in 2024 before transferring to Rockbridge Elementary to teach health and PE. His mother, Suzette, described him as selfless and generous, and said he will be sorely missed by the community and his family.
During an August 10 DeKalb County School Board meeting, interim Superintendent Norman C. Sauce III told board members that Moore had once saved his own mother's life in another emergency years earlier, according to Decaturish. The district deployed grief counselors and support personnel to both Rockbridge Elementary and Jolly Elementary during the second week of the school year to help students and staff process the loss.
The Hidden Danger Behind the Tragedy
Moore's death highlights a hazard water safety officials warn about every summer. The United States Lifesaving Association says rip currents account for more than 80% of all surf beach rescues and cause over 100 drowning deaths nationwide each year. NOAA data cited by CBS News shows rip currents can move up to 8 feet per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer, which quickly exhausts even fit adults who try to swim directly against them, explaining why a physical education teacher could be overcome after successfully pulling a child to safety.
A 2026 public safety report noted that at least 21 people died in rip current incidents nationwide within just the first six months of the year, underscoring an ongoing seasonal surge in coastal drownings. Experts advise swimmers caught in a rip current to swim parallel to the shore rather than fight directly against the pull, a technique that can mean the difference between exhaustion and escape.
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