“ Today we are planning Kevin’s rehab and not a funeral, thanks to the quick actions of Dr. Duarte and two nurses,” wrote James Powers in a September 25 email to McCarl Dental Group.
Powers was speaking for and about his brother-in-law, Kevin. It was September 21, the last day of summer, around 5 p.m. The season at Bethany Beach, Del., had ended the previous Sunday. Off-season meant there would be no lifeguards in chairs or patrolling the beach. Richard Duarte, an associate dentist at the dental group, was at Bethany Beach on vacation with his wife and her family and on that particular day and at that particular time was playing bocce ball on the beach. Waves stronger than usual pounded the shore in the wake of Hurricane José. Not many people were out except for an extended family nearby and a few others. It was a fun-filled, lazy Thursday, until suddenly, screams filled the air. People were racing toward and pointing at the surf. A person was floating face down, limp, bobbing up and down in tandem with the waves in whatever direction they dictated. It was Kevin, from the other group on the beach, there for a family reunion. “A rogue wave had knocked him to the floor and he was floating lifelessly,” wrote Powers. His neck had been broken.
For the remainder of this dramatic story, see page 4 of this week’s paper by clicking here.