Add The California Post on Google Ryder Williams, the 16-year-old lifeguard who threw himself into giant waves this weekend in Santa Cruz to save a 10-year-old boy from drowning, is being celebrated as the hero America needed.
More to the point: He’s the hero California needed.
The video went viral: A strong but slender lifeguard with a mop of blond hair, pulling a young, dark-haired boy from the surf.
The boy can barely keep his head above the water. His swimming trunks appear to have been torn off by the force of the undertow.
Ryder braces himself for each wave as it crashes against them, forcing them underwater for several perilous seconds each time.
Struggling against the awesome power of the ocean, he moves steadily ashore, until other lifeguards arrive to help him.
And the best part? Ryder Williams went right back to his tower after saving the boy. That wasn’t even the only rescue he performed that day, according to his grandfather, who told The California Post that the young lifeguard saved two more lives before the end of his shift.
The White House responded immediately to the viral video of Ryder’s heroism, with President Donald Trump issuing an immediate invitation to receive an award.
Ryder himself expressed humility. “It was all in a day’s work,” his grandfather said he told the family.
The teen was just doing what thousands of lifeguards do every day, up and down the California coast: keeping watch and saving lives, so that others can enjoy the spectacular beauty of the Golden State.
Lifeguards are often the targets of public criticism for the hefty salaries they can earn, sometimes in excess of half a million dollars a year in LA County.
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But they have certainly been busy lately. Reports suggest that lifeguards made nearly 2,000 rescues last weekend in LA County alone.
That’s because tropical storms and hurricanes off the coast have churned up big waves. The storms have also caused warmer weather, which draws more beachgoers looking to cool off; and they have warmed up the icy waters of the Pacific, making wading and swimming more enticing than usual.
Imagine the devastation if Ryder Williams and his colleagues weren’t on duty.
To many Californians, Ryder seemed a throwback to the glory days of the Beach Boys — the proverbial “bushy, bushy blond hairdo” in the surf, the “toxic masculinity” of a young man straining against the raw might of nature to save someone who cannot save himself.
It’s a reminder of the danger of the ocean in late summer, of which we should all take heed.
But it’s also a reminder of how strong we Californians are — which is something we used to tell ourselves, and should tell ourselves again.
