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White House Honors Rescue
President Donald Trump met Monday in the Oval Office with Ryder Williams, a 16-year-old California State Parks lifeguard, and Nathaniel Rai, the 10-year-old boy he rescued after a July 25 incident at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, Calif.
““What you did was incredible, and everybody saw it,” Trump told the boys”
Trump told the boys, “What you did was incredible, and everybody saw it,” as the families and lifeguard Aaron Bohnen joined the reunion.
Williams, who has declined interviews since the rescue, spoke publicly for the first time and said lifeguards “always try to fall back on our training.”
The meeting followed Trump’s social media invitation to give Williams what he called a “High Civilian Honor” for the rescue, after footage of the incident went viral.
KQED reported that Trump invited Williams and beachgoer Nathaniel Rai after the July 25 rescue garnered millions of views on social media.
Training, Waves, and Quotes
Williams described the moment he acted during the rescue, telling reporters, “In those dangerous moments that we have, we always try to fall back on our training.”
In the Oval Office, Trump also emphasized the role of emergency personnel and told Rai, “God was watching you,” as the president praised Williams as a “real hero.”
KQED reported that officials said the conditions at Seabright State Beach were particularly dangerous because of “the disarmingly long lulls between wave sets.”
KQED added that forecasters had a beach hazards statement in effect for 33 days between June 1 and early August, about three times the average for that window since 2012.
David Bodine, marine safety captain for the Santa Cruz City Fire Department, told KQED, “And then they’re more powerful when they do hit.”
First Responder Push
The White House recognition came as the rescue drew attention to lifeguards’ role, with KQED reporting that Trump was told of a push in Congress to classify open-water lifeguards as first responders.
“he would “put my weight behind it.””
KQED said Trump responded by saying he would “put my weight behind it,” linking the honor to the broader question of how lifeguards are treated in emergencies.
KQED reported that Justin McHenry, an aquatic superintendent with State Parks, said the department trains about 200 lifeguards a year and that “losing a victim would be disastrous.”
McHenry also told Trump that “There certainly are unguarded areas within the state and around the nation,” and that people getting in without the knowledge or ability to recreate in those waters can be extremely dangerous.
In the Oval Office, Trump invited Williams to see the Lincoln Bedroom, while Williams said he wants to train as a paramedic and become a firefighter, and Rai’s father, Sumit Rai, said he was “beyond grateful” to Williams and Bohnen.