Roberta and her family were playing in the ocean during their visit to Panama City Beach. Roberta started to leave the water and turned around to look for her family. She realized they were much further from shore than she thought could hear them screaming and crying for help.
Roberta jumped back into the water and swam out to her family, but the current was too strong and she became trapped also. People at the beach realized the family was in trouble and rushed to help. A woman named Jessica, swam out to the family using a boogie board she found on the beach. Jessica's husband started forming a human chain in the water to bring the family back to shore. The human chain grew to 80 people and stretched over 100 yards.
Roberta's mother suffered a heart attack while trapped in the water and nearly died, but one by one the family was pulled along the human chain to safety.