Screengrab: White House//YouTube
Members of California State Parks Lifeguards met with President Donald Trump Monday, weeks after a rescue in heavy Santa Cruz, California surf went viral. The invitation was publicly extended to Ryder Williams, a 16-year-old lifeguard at the center of the rescue, and 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai, who Williams saved at Seabright Beach on July 25. But on Monday, the pair were joined in the Oval Office by other lifeguards who’d helped Williams in the rescue effort, Williams’ parents, as well as Rai and his family.
“[It] got a lot of publicity because of the ferocity of the waves. I’ve never seen waves…that was so violent,” the President said between moments of checking a notecard throughout the meeting.
California State Parks Aquatic Superintendent Justin McHenry pointed out to the President that the job of a lifeguard is “a huge responsibility,” adding that it requires “a lot of integrity and resilience. And I think this particular rescue really exemplifies what we’re looking for in a State Parks lifeguard.”
Nathaniel Rai’s father, Summit, took the opportunity to thank Williams and the rest of the lifeguard team in attendance for saving his son. He pointed out that tomorrow is Nathaniel’s birthday, alluding to the fact that they likely wouldn’t be able to celebrate it without the heroics of the lifeguards.
“Maybe lifeguards don’t get the credit they deserve,” Trump admitted while rehashing his own experience of seeing the rescue for the first time. He repeated that sentiment to media in attendance, saying the viral aspect of this particular rescue is an opportunity to garner more widespread respect for lifeguards and for the dangers the ocean can pose to the average beachgoer. “I’ve seen rescues before. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Williams shared that he’s aspiring to be a firefighter in the future, adding, “I hope that everybody can take away from this and try to help more people. Try to look out for everybody around you and, just try to help everybody out as much as you can.”
At one point, the conversation steered toward a push to designate lifeguards as first responders, which would change the landscape of the profession by granting everything from new legal protections to expanding health benefits and compensation for open-water lifeguards. The President said he hadn’t heard there was a push for legislation on the matter, but he now plans to “put (his) weight behind it.”
