Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian; ‘I’m super proud of him’: father of teen lifeguard recounts dramatic ocean rescue
"A rookie, teenage California 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."
