A teenage lifeguard who saved a young boy from drowning amid massive waves – while a bystander recorded dramatic video – has spent his whole life preparing for such a moment, according to his father.
Ryder Williams, 16, said he refused to let go of the child because he knew the boy would almost certainly die if he did, the lifeguard’s father, Shane, recounted on Tuesday, three days after the pulse-pounding rescue.
“He told me: ‘I just was not going to let that happen,’” Shane Williams said during a telephone interview. “I almost started crying because how determined he was to save that boy’s life makes me so proud.”
Shane Williams’s comments lent a unique perspective to a rescue off Seabright beach in Santa Cruz that local authorities say unfolded when a child lost his balance, got knocked down by a wave and was swept into the Pacific Ocean about 15 yards offshore on Saturday afternoon.
An on-duty, California state parks lifeguard who was later identified as Ryder saw the boy in distress and ran to help him, officials said in a statement. Video of the scene captured by photographer Scott Vander Dussen and posted to his Santa Cruz Now account on Instagram showed Ryder braving enormous waves to reach the 10-year-old boy and then clutching on to him.
I’ve watched the video about six times already. It really inspires me (and brought tears to my eyes too). Thank you Ryder, for your wisdom and determination. I love how you “worked” with the waves, protecting your charge the entire time. Never giving up!
To see the video, click the above link in the article. That’s Ryder and his father in the photo.
