“Thank you Ryder Williams for keeping our coastline safe,” Fox TV wrote on social media
Credit: Fox/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- The cast of Baywatch honored a teen lifeguard, Ryder Williams, after he rescued a 10-year-old boy in California
- “The #Baywatch crew and a real life superhero,” the network wrote alongside a photo of the teen on set
- Williams went viral on social media for pulling the young boy, Nathaniel Rai, out of the water as he was struggling to swim on July 25
The cast of Baywatch honored a teen lifeguard after he rescued a 10-year-old boy in California.
Weeks after Ryder Williams went viral for helping a struggling boy (later identified as Nathaniel Rai) when powerful waves swept him into the ocean in California, the stars of the Baywatch reboot — including Shay Mitchell, Stephen Amell, Noah Beck and more — shared a photo with the 16-year-old hero on social media.
“The #Baywatch crew and a real life superhero🛟🌊,” Fox TV wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the teen visiting the cast on set. “Thank you Ryder Williams for keeping our coastline safe. ❤️”
Credit: Sumit Rai; santacruznow/instagram
Williams gained national attention when a clip circulated on social media showing him refusing to let go of Rai as he struggled in the waters at Santa Cruz’s Seabright Beach.
After the July 25 incident, Rai told CBS Mornings that he thought he was “going to die” in the moments before Williams got a hold of him.
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Rai, recalling the “big” waves that day, said, “I tripped and then I got pulled.”
Rai later told PEOPLE that he didn’t fully recall what had happened once he got caught up in the rough surf.
“I kind of went unconscious,” he said.
Nathaniel’s father, Sumit Rai, explained to PEOPLE that he was in Dallas at the time of the incident. He also emphasized that “the likelihood of him surviving that incident was infinitesimally small” if not for Williams.
Credit: Sumit Rai
“For him to voluntarily go in there to try to save Nathaniel is putting his own life and safety at risk, too,” he said. “I can never repay him or express enough gratitude.”
In the weeks after the heroic rescue, Sumit said that he spoke with Ryder’s dad, retired firefighter Shane Williams, and that the four of them sparked an instant connection.
“Shane’s lost a lot of his brothers and sisters in the service to cancer, and so, we talked quite a bit about that and then bonded over that in terms of just purpose and impact,” he explained. “There’s definitely a bond there that’s going to perpetuate throughout [their] lifetimes for sure. They’re wonderful people.”
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