The North Yarmouth man was vacationing in Florida when a current swept him and two of his children away from shore. Both children survived.

The Jennings family. GoFundMe
A 46-year-old man from Maine died after a powerful riptide swept him and his two children away from shore at a Florida beach on April 1, according to Bangor Daily News.

The paper reports that Ryan Jennings, of North Yarmouth, threw his 12-year-old son toward the shore as he hoisted his 9-year-old daughter above his head. Both children survived, but Jennings did not.

“He made sure they made it out alive,” his wife, Emily Jennings, told Bangor Daily News. “He truly was our hero.”

The Palm Beach County Fire Department initiated a water rescue at 3:25 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, in the area of Juno Beach, according to a news release from the department. Lifeguards helped bring four people ashore. First responders brought three people to a local hospital.

The department said that the Jennings were swimming in an area without lifeguards.

“This incident underscores the importance of swimming at guarded beaches, where trained lifeguards can identify hazardous conditions, including rough surf and rip current formation, helping to reduce the risk of incidents before they happen,” the release said.

The department added that the low tide and onshore wind were consistent with rip current activity.

Rip currents are strong, fast-moving channels of water that pull swimmers away from shore, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They can form at any beach with breaking waves.

The United States Lifesaving Association estimates that rip currents cause more than 100 deaths each year and make up over 80% of surf lifeguard rescues.

In a GoFundMe page set up by Geraldine Ollila on Thursday, she wrote that Jennings left behind his wife and three children. As of Monday afternoon, the fundraiser had received over $170,000.

“His heroic actions are a testament to the kind of person he was, and his loss leaves a tremendous void in the lives of everyone who knew him,” Ollila wrote.