A Georgia teacher and father of four is being remembered as a hero after giving his life to save a young girl he had never met from a dangerous rip current off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Derrick Moore, 47, saw the girl struggling in the ocean near 10th Avenue South shortly before 8 p.m. Friday. Lifeguards had already gone off duty, and the child had been caught in a rip current.

Moore did not know her. He went into the water anyway.

According to the Myrtle Beach Police Department, Moore managed to get the girl to safety before the powerful current pulled him underwater. He disappeared beneath the water as police and firefighters launched a search that continued into Saturday morning.

His body washed ashore and was recovered Saturday afternoon.

For Moore’s family, the loss is almost impossible to put into words.

“We loved him and are truly heartbroken that he’s gone,” his daughter told WRAL. “He was a great father and we are all going to miss him.”

Moore leaves behind four children and a community of students, colleagues, friends and former teammates who say his final act reflected the kind of person he had always been.

He taught at Rockbridge Elementary School in Georgia’s DeKalb County School District, where students affectionately knew him as “Coach.” He previously taught at Jolly Elementary School.

The school district called Moore a “beloved educator” who made a meaningful difference in the lives of the students, families and communities he served.

“His presence, care, and dedication to education will be deeply missed,” the district said.

Moore was also a standout athlete. He graduated from Samford University in 2001 after competing in both football and track and field. The university remembered him as a “beloved teacher” and “true hero” and asked the Samford community to keep his family in prayer.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also honored Moore following his death.

“Marty and I were heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of Derrick Moore, a father, teacher, and coach,” Kemp said. “Please join us in praying for this hero’s family and the DeKalb County community as they mourn his loss.”

But perhaps the most moving tributes have come from those who knew Moore best. Friends and relatives remembered a man who made a habit of showing up for others. One former teammate said Moore’s willingness to give his life trying to save someone else “tells you everything you need to know about the kind of man he was.”

For Christians, Moore’s sacrifice brings to mind one of Jesus’ most powerful teachings about love: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Moore rushed into danger for someone who wasn’t even a friend. She was a child he didn’t know, but when he saw that her life was in danger, that distinction apparently didn’t matter.

His family is now grieving a father, son and brother whose instinct in a terrifying moment was to help someone else.

One relative captured both the heartbreak and the meaning of Moore’s final act in a tribute: “You died a HERO. You died saving the life of a child, a stranger. What a Legacy.”

It is a legacy his four children, his students and an entire community can carry with them—a life remembered not only for how it ended, but for the selfless love that final act revealed.