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“It was not at all a beach day," Fire Chief Dominick J. McClain told NJ.com, noting there were not any lifeguards on the beach. "The water was very rough and the rip currents were very dangerous."
The unidentified mom from Wernersville, PA noticed her kids ages 8, 10 and 19 were having trouble swimming to shore at the 18th Avenue beach in North Wildwood, and so she went in to get them around 3 p.m., local fire officials said.
The mom scooped up her two younger kids, both boys, and carried them to shore -- then went back in for her 19-year-old girl, who was still having trouble, McClain said.
The woman was found unconscious approximately 150 yards from the beach after rescuers arrived to help her daughter, authorities said.
First responders began CPR before taking the mom to Cape Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, the fire chief said.
The woman's husband was with the other children at Montego Bay Resort during the incident, but came to the scene as the woman's body was pulled from the water, authorities said.
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