New Fitness Center Named in Honor of late Fire Captain Jeremy Owens

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – In 2020, Wrightsville Beach lost a well-respected, admired and beloved member of their community. Described as a pillar and great leader, and bringing honor and dignity to the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, Jeremy Owens truly made an impact on the lives of his family, friends, colleagues, and his community as a whole.

Jeremy Owens took his own life in November, and the loss hit the community hard. It was another example of how important it is that we always check on our loved ones, colleagues and friends.

Captain Sam Proffitt spoke to WWAY today, recalling his friendship and work relationship with Owens, and stated that after the tragic loss, loved ones of Owens knew they needed to do something meaningful to honor his legacy.

UNCW came to the Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue with an offer to help build a new fitness center in honor of Owens, naming it the “Jeremy Owens Fitness Center”. The university was able to raise approximately fifty-thousand dollars, which allowed the department to get equipment and provide a grant named after Owens.

Sam Proffitt said that when the family, fire and ocean rescue heard this idea, they knew it would be perfect. He also stated that the current fitness facility is only “phase one” and they are interested in eventually getting a building soley for the purpose of the Jeremy Owens Fitness Center.

Proffit said that while making sure that we are all maintaining our physical well-being, a focus should also be placed on our mental health, so an incident such as Jeremy’s does not repeat itself.

“As much as a loss that it was losing jeremy, we can’t let it happen again. Thats really the driving force, to say, we need to have things in place to address mental health, to keep everyone healthy physically, and mentally.”

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or having a suicidal crisis, help is always available:

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.