See more of our coverage in your search results.

The 10-year-old boy who was saved by a heroic teenage lifeguard at a California beach has broken his silence about his traumatizing swim.

Nathaniel Rai said he felt scared about wading into the Santa Cruz surf as large waves broke, but that a woman named Anna urged him to anyway.

“She told me I could swim in the water, and I told her I didn’t want to because the waves were too big,” Nathaniel told CBS Mornings on Tuesday. “So I just stayed on the shore.”

But even as he stood at the water’s edge, the waves took him anyway.

“I tripped, and then I got pulled,” he said.

16-year-old Ryder Williams swooped in and dragged the boy out of the waves’ whitewash. The heroic act earned him wide praise, including from President Donald Trump.

“Before the lifeguard came, I thought I was going to die,” the boy said.

The young boy said he’s “super thankful” to Ryder for saving his life and shared an interest in UFC with him.

His father, Sumit Rai, expressed his gratitude to the lifeguard for the courageous save.

“First, I wanted to express my gratitude to him for saving Nathaniel’s life. I mean, absent Ryder, Nathaniel wouldn’t be sitting here next to me today,” he said.

“He was a second or two away from dying. With those rip currents, you’ll get thrown 15 to 20 feet away, deeper into the sea. At which point, you can’t see him, let alone you know retrieve or rescue him,” he added.

Rai said Ryder showed resilience battling the waves in saving his son’s life.

“He was a second or two away from dying. With those rip currents, you’ll get thrown 15 to 20 feet away, deeper into the sea. At which point, you can’t see him, let alone you know retrieve or rescue him,” he added.

“The resilience that he showed to hold him through those rip currents, that water pressure, those torrential waves and be able to withstand that because at that point, Nathaniel was already unconscious,” he said. “He had gone limp. He wasn’t breathing, and you know, was basically dead weight, and he’s about 100 pounds. So, you know, it’s an incredible physical feat.”

“He just did everything he was supposed to do to save his life and put himself at risk to do so.”

Nathaniel’s father also praised several bystanders and another lifeguard, Aaron, for helping his son.

“I appreciate each and every one of them incredibly so because you know it took that effort to bring them out and keep them alive, and I’m just so grateful to have my son with me,” he said. “I can’t imagine what life would look like had Ryder not been there.”

Trump said he would bring Ryder, and potentially Nathaniel, to the White House to give the lifeguard a civilian honor.

“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 said in a post on X.

California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!