Tom Gray had saved sixteen people from drowning during his four years with the Volunteer Life Saving Corps at Rockaway Beach.
Strong, sun-bronzed, and more than six feet tall, he was known as a capable swimmer and lifesaver. But in July 1909, the ocean claimed the very man who had so often pulled others from its reach.
Gray had gone for a long swim far beyond the life lines, pushing nearly half a mile from shore despite the strong undertow. As he made his way back, only about 200 yards from safety, he was seized by a cramp and suddenly sank beneath the water.
Patrolman Shannon and fellow lifesaver Charles Cook dove again and again to find him as a crowd of bathers watched from the beach. When Cook finally brought Gray’s body to the surface, the rescuer himself had become the victim.
Lifesaver Drowned
ROCKAWAY BEACH, Long Island. — “Tom” Gray, a lifesaver at Rockaway Beach, Long Island, was the victim himself yesterday of a fate from which he had saved many. While swimming far beyond the life lines, he was seized with a cramp, and in spite of the efforts of several men who dived for him, he was drowned in sight of a large crowd of bathers.
In his four years’ experience in the Volunteer Life Saving Corps, Gray had rescued sixteen persons from drowning. He was more than six feet tall, strongly built, and deeply bronzed by the sun.
Yesterday afternoon Gray started for a long swim oceanward and, unterrified by the strong undertow, went fully half a mile from shore.
On his way in, and when about 200 yards from shore, he was taken with a cramp and sank. Patrolman Shannon and Charles Cook, another lifesaver, rushed to his assistance and dived repeatedly in an effort to find him.
Finally, Cook brought his lifeless body to the surface.
All the members of the lifesaving stations along the beaches will attend the athlete’s funeral.
Source: New York Tribune. New York, N.Y. July 19, 1909.
