In April 2019, Hanna Pignato, then 19 years old, was working the evening shift at Joe’s Crab Shack in Daytona Beach, Florida.
As night fell, Hanna heard people scurrying about in a flurry of activity and a woman yelling bloody murder from the beach below. The woman who was screaming was a distraught mother.
Whose young son was ensnared in a powerful rip tide. No one was genuinely attempting to save the boy, Hanna realized as she peered down from the pier of the restaurant.
Hanna believed she could save him because she is a skilled swimmer and surfer. She threw off her shoes and jumped off the pier without hesitation, but she landed hard on the sandbar below.
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