A 16-year-old lifeguard who pulled a 10-year-old boy from punishing surf at a Santa Cruz beach is opening up about the split-second resolve that drove him into the water — while the child’s father says he has become the teen rescuer’s “biggest fan.”
Video of the rescue shows Ryder Williams diving into rough waves off Seabright Beach on Saturday and fighting through the powerful water to reach the struggling child. The dramatic scene quickly drew national attention, including praise from President Trump.
Despite the attention, Ryder kept his reaction modest. When he got home after finishing his lifeguard shift, he told his family it was simply “all in a day’s work.”
“He told me when he got home, he said, ‘Dad, I wasn’t going to let go of that kid because I knew if I let go of him he was going to drown, and I wasn’t going to let that happen,’ and it brought a tear to my eye when he said that,” Ryder’s father, retired firefighter Shane Williams, told The California Post.
“It was pretty amazing.”
The boy’s father, Sumit Rai, described his son’s survival as nothing short of “a miracle.”
Rai told the New York Times that his 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter had been vacationing in California with their mother when the frightening incident happened. He learned about the rescue later that night during a phone call with his children and said he could not sleep for days afterward.
“To watch her brother go through a near-death experience is not a small thing,” he told the Times, adding that he now considers himself Ryder’s “biggest fan.”
Ryder’s grandfather said the teen has sought to downplay the attention surrounding his bravery.
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“It was all in a day’s work,” George said Ryder told the family after the rescue. “He said, ‘This is what I do.’”
His grandfather added that Ryder participated in five rescues during his Saturday lifeguard shift, including two “that were more gnarly” than saving the 10-year-old.
“He’s a great kid,” George added. “We love him to pieces.”
Ryder’s dad said his son’s actions reflected the kind and caring person he has always been.
“He just wants to give back to his community because he grew up here,” he said.
Despite gaining the national spotlight, Ryder was back at his lifeguard station on Tuesday and is father eager to return to normal life, his dad said.
The soon-to-be high school junior has talked about following in his father’s footsteps.
“He’s still young but he’s thinking he wants to get into the fire service eventually,” he said. “We’re taking it step by step. We’re just trying to regroup and make sure he’s okay.”
On Tuesday, Trump announced that Ryder would receive a “high civilian honor” for his bravery.
“We’re going to bring this heroic young man, and his family, into the White House with, perhaps, the boy he saved, to give him a High Civilian Honor. Very brave, he deserves it!” Trump wrote on social media.
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