Teen caught in rip current recalls frightening moments before rescue | Heroes on the Frontline

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- The ocean roared and duty called.

When there was no time to wait for backup, an Atlantic City police officer jumped into action to save a 13-year-old boy who was being pulled out to sea.

Ripped from danger, Joshua Martin says he would have died had it not been for this Hero on the Frontline.

The calls for help came just before 7 p.m. on Fourth of July weekend.

Atlantic City police officer Sgt. Jonathan Walsh raced to the beach.

Krystal Martin and her family were on vacation from Michigan. Her son Joshua was caught in a rip current.

"Me and my sister were in the water, and then my parents were on the shore. She starts telling me how she's getting stuck. I swim over to her and pull her out," recalled 13-year-old Joshua.

"But then I guess I get caught in what she got caught in, and I didn't realize it for a while, so I'm just drifting farther and farther, and then I try to come back," he said.

Joshua said all he could think about was possibly drowning.

"We were panicking because I just could see him getting like further and further away from shore," said Joshua's mother, Krystal.

Helpless on the shoreline, she saw Sgt. Walsh racing towards her.

"I just saw them running down the beach like from the shore onto the beach, and Sgt. Walsh, just like ripping his clothes off. He was like, 'Where is he? Where is he at?' He's like throwing equipment to the side," she said.

A flurry of other Atlantic City police officers jump into action.

Exhausted by treading water, Joshua says he turned to his back, hoping the waves would push him back to shore.

"Out of nowhere, I just feel someone grab me. And then he was like, 'You're gonna be all right,'" recalled Joshua.

Within minutes of the officers' arrival, contact is made in the rocky sea waters.

"If you're not used to rip currents, they are very powerful. They develop very quickly and rapidly and can be deadly," said Atlantic City Police Chief James Sarkos.

The department has specific training for this.

"We have a lot of officers who are former lifeguards, and we do give water rescue training so they're prepared for these situations," he said.

Sgt. Walsh didn't think his actions were anything extraordinary, but to Krystal and Joshua, it was nothing short of life-saving.

"I was thanking God because I've never felt so helpless, like I could see him struggling," said the boy's mother.