Good Samaritan Drowns Trying to Save Woman

Judge Mitchell McLean was vacationing with family on North Carolina shore
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 5, 2013 6:44 AM CDT
Good Samaritan Drowns Trying to Save Woman
Sunset Beach, North Carolina.   (©)

Yet another Good Samaritan has perished in his quest to help another. North Carolina Judge Mitchell McLean was vacationing with his family at the state's Sunset Beach on Wednesday when he saw a woman struggling in the water. The 54-year-old ran into the ocean in an effort to save her—and didn't make it out alive. The Star News reports that McLean was attempting to rescue Maryann Galway, 55; her husband also tried to help.

"Upon arrival, two of those individuals were in cardiac arrest on the shore," said Brunswick County's Emergency Management director. "The other was unconscious and unresponsive." Though McLean was administered constant CPR, both he and Galway died, with their deaths attributed to powerful rip currents. Galway's husband was treated and released. A fellow Wilkesboro, NC, judge spoke highly of McLean's character, telling the Journal Patriot, "He will be missed in the legal community as a good lawyer and judge, but he will be missed even more for the type of person he was." Wednesday saw a third rip tide-related incident in the county, in which a 72-year-old from Florida died. (Two more Good Samaritans died recently in their quest to help others; read their stories here and here.)

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