Baywatch honors teenage lifeguard hero who saved boy in viral video

Ryder Williams, 16, presented with distinctive red jacket by star of TV rescuer reboot, Stephen Amell

As life imitates art and vice versa, the star of the Baywatch reboot recently presented one of the distinctive red jackets seen on the beach rescuer drama to the teenage lifeguard who went viral for saving a boy off the California coast on camera.

Stephen Amell, who was cast as the main protagonist for the first season of the new Baywatch scheduled to premiere in early 2027, presented the garment worn by lifeguards on the fictional show and its prequel franchise to 16-year-old Ryder Williams in a video posted on social media by the production on Friday just after midnight eastern time.

“What you did was extraordinarily brave,” the actor said to Williams in the clip, which was recorded inside a bar and grill whose name on the California-set Baywatch is the Shoreline.

Alluding to how Williams’s viral 25 July rescue was one of multiple in which he participated that day, Amell continued: “But it sounds like it was just a [typical] day for you, which is amazing.”

The former star of the pro wrestling drama Heels jokingly suggested that, beside the jacket, Williams was welcome to return to The Shoreline specifically when he reached the legal drinking age of 21. However, before that, Williams could “come and visit and show us how things are done whenever you’d like,” Amell said.

“Congratulations, man,” Amell added, handing the jacket to Williams as the teen’s parents watched and applauded along with other Baywatch cast and crew members.

Williams saved 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai from drowning after the boy lost his footing and was pulled into the Pacific Ocean by powerful swells that suddenly began pounding Seabright beach in Santa Cruz, California.

Heart-pounding footage of the emergency showed Williams – equipped with a flotation device known as a rescue tube – dive into an enormous wave, grab the boy and then commandingly maintain that grip until another lifeguard, Aaron Bohnen, rushed in to help bring the child back to the shore safely. Bystanders at one point defied standard public safety advice by trying to help Williams, but they retreated when met with the potent surf.

Local photographer Scott Vander Dussen recorded video of Rai’s rescue, and it spread quickly online. Those who were emotionally moved by the footage ranged from Rai’s father, Sumit – who was in his home city of Dallas at the time – to Donald Trump.

The president wrote on social media that Williams was deserving of a “high civilian honor”. And, speaking to the Associated Press, Sumit Rai described how his son recalled momentarily losing consciousness amid the ocean swells before Williams and Bohnen saved him.

“What he did, I can never repay,” Sumit Rai said of Williams. “I’m forever grateful.”

Another prominent admirer of Williams came forward after the video of him, Amell and the Baywatch jacket: Livvy Dunne , who landed a recurring role on the show after a college gymnastics career that saw her team at Louisiana State University win a 2024 national championship.

“So awesome!!!” Dunne wrote in a social media reply to the clip.

Williams’s father, Shane, has said that his son had been preparing virtually his entire young life to be a lifeguard. Ryder was a toddler when he began taking swimming lessons, spent years in junior lifeguard training and was skilled at water polo, playing a position that was especially physically demanding, Shane Williams said.

A 31 July social media video released by the agency that employs Ryder Williams, California State Parks, showed him urging beachgoers to familiarize themselves with ocean conditions – including by asking lifeguards on duty.

On the weekend that Williams rescued Rai, the National Weather Service (NWS) had warned of perilous waves and rip currents associated with faraway tropical cyclones.

Williams in that California State Parks video also nonchalantly recounted how he returned to his lifeguard tower after saving Rai, “continued to make safety contacts – and ended up making more rescues later that day”.

“This is not an uncommon occurrence,” Williams remarked. “This is our job. This is what we’re here to do – and the reason we’re here.

“It is awesome to get to come out and help people every day.”

The original Baywatch series, starring David Hasselhoff , was one of the world’s most watched shows during its 11-season run from 1989 to 1999. There was also a 2017 Baywatch movie starring Zac Efron , Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddario .