Family and friends of Corinthian Hammond gathered on the beach at Ninth Street in Ocean City on Tuesday afternoon near where the 14-year-old Philadelphia boy presumably drowned on Sunday evening.
They came to remember a young man who loved football and basketball, who always wanted to play, and who “would help anybody” in the words of his grandmother, Patricia Hammond.
“I’m going to miss him,” Hammond said. “God bless him.”
Hammond’s body had not been recovered at the time of the vigil, and the family was anxious to reach closure, wondering when and where Hammond might be found.
They also asked questions about how the tragedy transpired.
A first-hand account from 10-year-old Jaquil Hunter describes a classic recipe for disaster: non-swimmers, unprotected beach, unfamiliar waters, a rising tide, a couple of waves and a strong rip.
Hunter said he was with Hammond and one other boy swimming not particularly close to the Ninth Street jetty when they started to get pulled out to sea. He said Hammond was hit by a couple of “big waves” and pushed closer to the beach.
The surf zone at Ninth Street beach is marked by sandbars and gullies, and it’s likely that Hammond was pushed into deeper water closer to shore in a gully. As he went under, a rip near the jetty would have carried his body back out to sea.
Hunter said the third boy had a boogie board but was unable to help the other two. They were unaccompanied by adults in the water. Low tide on Sunday was about 3:30 p.m. — the water would have been rising for more than three hours.
Ocean City Beach Patrol lifeguards described arriving to a scene that included 14 swimmers in distress — many of whom had tried to assist in the rescue of the three.
If Hunter’s account of the sequence were accurate, it appears there would be little time for a rescue before Hammond slipped under the water.
The regular Ocean City Beach Patrol was off duty when the swimmers got in trouble about 6:45 p.m. (June 29). The beach at Ninth Street is clearly marked with permanent and temporary signs warning bathers that the beach is closed when lifeguards are not on duty.
The lifeguards who responded were part of a Rapid Response Team that works until 8 p.m. and is able to respond by personal watercraft and ATV. The unit was dispatched after a 911 caller reported the emergency.
Hammond was visiting the beach for the day from his home in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia. He has a brother and a sister, and his mother was on the beach Tuesday at the vigil.
The Hammonds organized the impromptu gathering for friends and family and did not reach out to invite city officials or the community to the event.
Family members are staying at a local motel as they wait for news in the search for Hammond.
Searches with divers, Coast Guard helicopters, boats and patrols on the beach were conducted on Sunday evening and Monday. The intensive search was called off late Monday, but morning and evening patrols will continue to look for Hammond while the Ocean City Beach Patrol is off-duty.
The surf on Sunday evening was not particularly rough, but a tropical system that could move off the coast later this week could create bigger waves and stronger currents for the Fourth of July weekend.
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