When four American brothers travelled to Ireland to visit earlier this month, they had no idea that they were about to save a little girl’s life there.

Eoghan, Walter, and Declan Butler travelled to Ireland from Washington D.C. with their brother-in-law Alex Thomson so that they could go to their grandfather’s funeral. While they were there, they were enjoying a day of relaxation at Portmarnock Beach when they heard someone calling for a lifeguard. They then found out that a 6 year-old girl on a flotation device had been swept out to sea by a sudden wave, and her father was screaming for help.

Without hesitating, Eoghan, Declan, and Alex ran out into the water while Walter stayed onshore in case someone needed CPR. By then, the girl had already drifted half a mile away from shore, meaning the brothers had to swim for 25 minutes just to reach her. When they finally reached her, the brothers took turns swimming on their backs so that they could tow the girl’s flotation device back to shore on their chests.

Once they had the girl safely back on shore, Eoghan and Declan noticed that her father was still out in the water after he put on a life jacket and tried to swim out to save her. The twin boys then dove back in the water and saved the father as well.

The young men were all too happy to save the father and daughter, and they were particularly emotional when they were visited by the girl’s mother the next day.

“Seeing her jump around, kiss her mom, that was actually amazing,” Declan said.

In an incredible twist of fate, the brothers soon realized that they had saved the little girl on the very same day the brother of their deceased grandfather had drowned several decades ago.

“It’s kind of like this godly, guardian angel kind of feeling,” said Walter, “that the same day he drowned 64 years ago is the day we actually saved the life of a 6-year-old girl.”