Regular CNN guest Page Pate died at the age of 55 after he was swept away by a rip current near St. Simons Island, Georgia, according to his law firm and local officials.
First responders got a call about “two swimmers in distress," DiCristofalo said, adding that the other swimmer was Pate’s son. Later, responders learned that “the adolescent victim reached shore safely,” DiCristofalo added.
“I don’t have direct information whether they were together and got drawn out,” DiCristofalo continued, noting that Gould’s Inlet is known to have harsh rip currents.
“Though he was a formidable, sometimes intimidating, attorney in the courtroom, Page had an easy smile, an earnest laugh, and a great sense of humor,” Pate’s law firm, Pate, Johnson, and Church, also told local outlets in a statement.
And CNN wrote that it considered Pate as “a trusted legal voice for many local and national media organizations, including CNN, where he appeared frequently to provide insight and perspective as a criminal defense and constitutional law attorney on high-profile cases.”
Rip Currents
A rip current is a type of water current that can occur near beaches. It’s described as a strong and narrow current of river-like water that moves directly away from the shore, cutting through breaking waves“Panicked swimmers often try to counter a rip current by swimming straight back to shore—putting themselves at risk of drowning because of fatigue,” says the U.S. National Ocean Service, adding: “Lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people from rip currents in the U.S. every year, but it is estimated that 100 people are killed by rip currents annually.”