A 16-year-old California State Parks lifeguard named Ryder Williams rescued a 10-year-old boy from high surf at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on July 25. The rescue, captured on video by photographer Scott Vander Dussen and posted on Instagram, quickly went viral.
Waves reached up to 3 metres high, and the National Weather Service had warned of perilous waves and rip currents associated with distant tropical cyclones. The boy, later identified as Nathaniel Rai, was standing in shallow water when a wave knocked him down and swept him about 15 yards offshore.
I refuse to let go because the boy would almost certainly die if I did.
Ryder, who had completed the state parks lifeguard academy after four days of fever, saw the boy lose his footing in ankle-deep water and radioed for help. He sprinted into the surf and held on to Nathaniel as waves crashed over them. A fellow lifeguard eventually joined and helped bring the child to shore. The boy was unconscious during parts of the struggle, coughed up sand, and was evaluated by paramedics before being reunited with his family.
US President Donald Trump said the lifeguard should receive the highest civilian honor at the White House. He stated: "We’re going to bring this heroic young man, and his family, into the White House."
Ryder's parents, Shannon Johnson (a marine science research technician) and Shane Williams (a retired firefighter), said their son was not on social media and did not understand the attention. His mother responded to GoFundMe requests by saying her son was simply doing what he loves. Ryder said he believed he had only done what lifeguards are trained to do.
This was Ryder's first rescue of his career, but later that day he performed a second rescue, saving two people in conditions he considered more difficult. Over the weekend, 34 rescues were reported by the lifeguard district. Nathaniel's father, Sumit Rai, who was in Dallas when he received the call, said he will be forever grateful: "What he did, I can never ever repay. I’m forever grateful."