Little League Coach Died As A Hero

First-Class Little League Coach Meets Tragic End

David Whitley
National Columnist
Darin McGahey did not intend to die a hero. He was just a regular guy who liked to do regular things.

That's how he ended up at the beach that day. McGahey was a youth-league baseball coach, and his team had traveled from Georgia to Florida for a big tournament.

A few kids got caught in the Navarre Beach surf and started yelling for help. McGahey couldn't have known what would happen next. He just did what came naturally and dived right in.

"He loved to help kids," his brother, Jeff, said.

He helped pluck them out of the water. Then the waves swept him away.

"Man, I can't tell you what a tragedy this has been," said Bubba Smith, a USSSA tournament director.

It's been tragic for McGahey's family, of course. And tragic for all his friends around McDonough, Ga.

It hasn't been tragic for the rest of us. It is a shame that it takes a hero's death to appreciate people like McGahey.

"He was just a simple guy," Jeff McGahey said.
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First Class Little League Coach Meets Tragic End