🗞️ General“I got you” – a father saves his three daughters from a riptide and pays with his life
When three of his daughters were caught in a dangerous riptide in Florida, Fred Pepperman didn't hesitate for a second. He saved all three – and gave the most precious thing he had.
A man who was always there
When Fred Pepperman pulled his grandmother from her New Orleans home during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, no one was surprised. «Freddy has been there for many family rescues,» his sister-in-law Colette James told TODAY. «Any time somebody needed him, he was there.»
The 53-year-old business owner from Tennessee was the father of four daughters: Kathryn (24), Mallory (22), Olivia (20) and Grace (16). On that Sunday in July 2019, the family was on vacation with 17 other relatives at the beach in Seacrest, Florida. Fred had just settled into his beach chair, with Colette sitting beside him.
Then disaster struck.
