Hero Fisherman Uses Drone To Rescue Teen From Rip Current

May 19, 2025

Today's good news story comes from Pensacola, Florida.

What started as a regular afternoon of fishing turned into a life-saving mission for one Florida man.

On Thursday, Pensacola Beach shark fisherman Andrew Smith used his fishing drone to save a teenage girl caught in a dangerous rip current—an act one witness described as a “true act of humanity.”

WEAR Channel 3

Smith had just finished work and wasn’t even planning to go to the beach that day. “I wasn’t even going to go out, but then my friend convinced me to go,” he said. Just ten minutes after arriving, chaos unfolded.

A panicked girl rushed up to Smith, desperately asking if anyone could swim—her friend was being pulled further out by the current. Smith, who medically cannot swim due to a seizure disorder, quickly turned to the only tool he had: his drone.

“I looked down at the drone and was like, ‘The drone can swim but I can’t,’” Smith recalled.

He grabbed a flotation device and attempted to drop it using the drone, but the wind caused him to release it too early. With the girl struggling for several minutes in the strong current, things were getting critical.

“I was shaking pretty badly,” Smith said. “It was nerve-wracking, I almost cried.”

But Smith didn’t give up. A bystander handed him another flotation device, and with a second, more precise flight, Smith successfully lowered it directly into the teen’s hands.

“She climbed on and started floating,” he said. “That was the last opportunity we were going to have.”

It took another five minutes for first responders to arrive, but thanks to Smith’s quick thinking, the girl was safe. Emergency crews confirmed that without that second drone drop, she likely wouldn’t have survived.

“If it wasn't for that second drop, she wouldn't have made it," Smith said. "The EMS, the cops, and the lifeguards said she wouldn't have made it.”

The girl was checked by medics and released in good health.

Bystander Robert Nay, who filmed the rescue, called Smith a “true hero.”

The teen’s father had even stronger words, calling Smith his daughter’s “guardian angel.”