Boy reveals why he was in ocean when powerful waves smashed —before hero lifeguard saved him

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 person 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 said. “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 shares an interest in UFC with him.

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