Trump plans White House honor for teen lifeguard who saved boy from towering waves

President Donald Trump announced July 28 that he plans to honor a 16-year-old California lifeguard who fought through towering waves to save a boy from drowning at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Very brave, he deserves it!”

The White House amplified the announcement alongside video of Saturday’s rescue. It has not announced a date for the visit.

The lifeguard has not been formally identified by California State Parks. A woman who identified herself online as his mother, however, said his first name is Ryder, and local reports have described him as a 16-year-old high school student in his first season on the job.

The rescue began shortly after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25, when a child lost his footing and was swept approximately 15 yards from shore, California State Parks spokesman Tyler Hersko told SFGATE. Ryder rushed into the turbulent surf, reached the boy, and locked his arms around him as wave after wave broke over the pair.

Scott Vander Dussen, a Santa Cruz resident who recorded the rescue, told ABC7 News that he saw the lifeguard “run straight out into the water” and dive in, “setting fear aside.”

The video shows Ryder and the boy repeatedly disappearing beneath the white water before surfacing again, with the lifeguard still holding fast. Ryder used the brief lulls between breakers to pull the boy toward shore, while several adults who tried to help were knocked down or driven back by the force of the waves.

“The lifeguard just had a gorilla grip on that young man, held him from getting swept back out,” Vander Dussen said.

After a struggle lasting a little more than two minutes, a second lifeguard reached them and helped finish the rescue. The child, reported to be about 10 years old, was exhausted when he reached shore, but paramedics found no serious injuries and released him to his parents.

“If the lifeguards were not out there, it would have had a different ending,” Vander Dussen said. “He was in desperate need of help, and those two lifeguards went in and did what needed to be done.”

Santa Cruz State Parks lifeguard supervisor Byran Kine said even highly trained rescuers would have an exceptionally hard time facing what Ryder faced that day. “The ocean has a lot more power than any human,” Kine told CBS News Bay Area, giving “big kudos” to his staff for recognizing the danger.

Eric Trump helped bring national attention to the rescue when he shared the video and called for the teenager to receive the country’s highest civilian recognition.

“Give this 16-year-old lifeguard the highest civilian honor,” the President’s son wrote. “This is truly the best of America! Well done!”

Ryder’s mother thanked viewers for the response but declined suggestions that supporters create a fundraising page for her son. “I am blown away by the love, kindness, gratitude and respect you’re sending his way!” she said, according to Fox News. “A few people have asked about a GoFundMe — but honestly he was just doing the job that he absolutely loves.”

She instead urged supporters to donate to the local Junior Guards program that trained Ryder and other young lifeguards, and she joined calls for open-water lifeguards to be treated as first responders.

That effort already has bipartisan support in Congress. Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, a prominent Catholic and pro-life lawmaker, introduced House Resolution 1188 in April to recognize open-water lifeguards as first responders and emergency-response providers. The measure, which has Democratic and Republican co-sponsors, remains before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Vander Dussen said the Seabright rescue should build support for the resolution. The footage, he argued, shows the danger lifeguards accept to make sure others return home alive.