RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. President Donald Trump has invited a teen lifeguard, whose fearless rescue of a child in rough surf won national praise, to the White House to receive an honor.
Video, filmed by Scott Vander Dussen of Santa Cruz Now, and shared on social media this week, captured the moment 16-year-old lifeguard Ryder Williams rescued a young boy from the ocean at Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz, California .
The child, 10, had been swept about 15 yards offshore when Williams reached him, with several beachgoers also helping with the rescue. The operation lasted just over two minutes.
President Donald Trump has since invited Williams to the White House.
"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 said on social media. "Very brave, he deserves it!"
His son, Eric Trump, posted on X: "Give this 16-year-old lifeguard the highest civilian honor. This is truly the best of America! Well done!"
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
Ryder was identified by his family to the California Post . His father, Shane Williams, said they are "really proud" of an "amazing kid."
"He just wants to be a kid and work hard this summer and serve and protect his community," he said.
"He’s doing great. We’re so overwhelmed," his dad said. "I’m trying to shelter him. I still see him as a little boy."
The clip, shared online by Scott Lander Dussen, shows Ryder in the water clutching the boy as he tries to pull him from the water. Large waves crash over them, and at times they both go under the water.
Several others come to help Ryder and the boy toward the end of the clip.
Ryder's father confirmed he only had minor injuries following the rescue: "He had some road rash on his forehead from holding on the kid. He hit the sand and scraped across it but he’s fine."
"He told me when he got home, he said, ‘Dad, I wasn’t going to let go of that kid because I knew if I let go of him he was going to drown and I wasn’t going to let that happen,’ and it brought a tear to my eye when he said that," Shane Williams said. "It was pretty amazing."
Ryder's grandfather, George Williams, said that it wasn't the only rescue he'd done that day.
"He had two rescues afterward on the same day that were more gnarly," Ryder’s grandfather said.
"It was all in a day’s work," George reported Ryder saying. "He said, ‘This is what I do.'"
"He’s a great kid," George added. "We love him to pieces."
President Trump did not specify what type of civilian honor Ryder would be invited to receive.
The two top civilian honors that can be bestowed by a president are the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Presidential Citizens Medal.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the country’s highest civilian honor and may be awarded to anyone who has made an especially significant contribution to U.S. interests or national security, world peace, culture, or another important public or private endeavor. Recipients are personally selected by the president.
The Presidential Citizens Medal, generally regarded as the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, recognizes US citizens who have performed exemplary acts of service for the country or their fellow Americans.
Ryder's father said the unexpected announcement had taken the family by surprise and they were still absorbing the news.
"We just heard about that so I haven’t even processed it," he said.
When asked whether the family would travel to the White House, he said: "I’m not sure."
"No one from the White House has reached out yet," he added.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Robert Greenall
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