They’ve only been dating three months, but a Middletown teenager can already call her boyfriend her hero.
The young couple were at the beach in Misquamicut on Sunday where lifeguards say rip current warnings went out over the loud speakers all day, so restrictive swimming was in effect.
Kendel Souza, 18, and her boyfriend Tyler Renfro, 17, say they were in waist-deep water when she got sucked out to sea.
“The wave came up behind me and just took me under it. It felt like a tornado underwater, it was rapidly spinning me, and I couldn’t breathe and I started to blackout,” Kendel said.
So, Tyler went after Kendel and said the strong rip currents almost got him as well.
Despite the danger, Tyler said he actually went underwater to continually thrust his girlfriend towards shore and to safety.