The rookie lifeguard didn’t flinch.
A giant wave slammed into the California shore and a 10-year-old boy was instantly swept up.
Luckily, a 16-year-old lifeguard ran to help, rushing toward a rescue that would go viral on social media, earning Ryder Williams praise across the internet.
It’s Ryder’s first summer working as a lifeguard, scanning the shores at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz, California, where the surf often pounds.
Last week, a sudden sneaker wave surged up the shore, knocking over the little boy and pulling him into the surprising surf. But, Ryder arrived in seconds.
“That’s when I turned the camera on and started to document it,” California photographer Scott Vander Dussen, who happened to be nearby, told the Los Angeles Times. “I had no idea it was going to be that intense…I’ve seen lots of interventions and rescues. I have never seen something like this.”
Tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Ocean were producing unpredictable powerful waves and dangerous currents all over the California coast. The massive 8-10 foot wave that knocked the boy over was soon followed by another.
And another.
“After the first wave, I was unable to pull him out because he was limp and the waves were pushing so hard,” Ryder said in a statement sent to the L.A. Times.
But Ryder has been comfortable and courageous in the water his entire life—through boogie boarding, surfing, and water polo (usually playing the center forward position that requires fending off defenders while treading water and trying to score).
The rookie lifeguard calmly ducked underneath the wave and simply tightened his grip even more.
The boy was not going to drown on Ryder’s watch.
“He told me: ‘I just was not going to let that happen,’” Ryder’s dad, Shane Williams said in an interview with The Guardian. “I almost started crying because how determined he was to save that boy’s life makes me so proud.”
The waves continued. Other adults ran to help, but even they were scattered by the surf. Ryder held strong, ducking under the onslaught and re-emerging every time.
Finally, another lifeguard arrived to help and the pair pulled the boy to safety. In the end, no one sustained any serious injuries—and beachgoers gave them all a round of applause.
Ryder, however, remained humble.
“This is my job and I love what I do. I’m thankful to my fellow lifeguards who perform rescues just like this every day.”
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Lifeguards across California have made thousands of rescues in recent weeks amid the Pacific storms and powerful surf.
HELP THIS HERO Catch a Wave By Sharing on Social Media…