A groom is being hailed as a hero after he interrupted his own beach wedding to save a teenager who was drowning.

Coast Guard petty officer Zac Edwards, 37, was posing for photos with his bride Cindy Edwards, 32, when they suddenly heard screaming. When Zac turned around, he saw 18-year-old Jamel Robinson struggling in the water. Cindy immediately told Zac to dive in and save the boy.

“You have to listen to your wife, or you’re in trouble,” Zac recalled.

Zac stripped off his shirt and was about to remove his pants, but Cindy told him that there was no more time to take anything else off, as Jamel clearly needed help immediately. Jamel had been pulled out on a boogie board by strong currents at Shell Beach in Gulf State Park at 6pm on August 3, and rescue workers were busy saving someone else further down the beach.

As soon as Zac got to Jamel, he propped him up on the boogie board to keep his head above water. The two then tried to head back to shore against the current, but Cindy got worried when she saw the pair slow down as her husband got tired. Thankfully, Orange Beach Fire Department and Orange Beach Surf Rescue workers reached them seconds later.

“Cindy and I were taking our photos together by the water and we were just wrapping them up when a woman told us there was a teenager in the water struggling,” Zac said. “You could just tell by the look on his face he was in difficulty. When we first saw him he was about 50 yards out. I took off my shirt, but my wife said I didn’t have time to take off my pants. I ran into the water. I told some kids to go back to the beach and I took a boogie board. I’m so glad I did that.”

“I eventually reached him but we were about half a football field away from the shore. He just kept saying ‘I can’t breathe.’ I tried to keep his head above water and I propped him up onto the boogie board,” Zac continued. “The current was really strong and it was stopping us coming in any further.. I was starting to panic slightly. The pants were making it hard to kick too. But when I saw the first responders I knew it was going to be okay. A jet ski came out to us and I managed to wedge him up onto it. I didn’t really take in the gravity of the situation until I laid down that night. Afterwards my hands were shaking but the adrenaline was just pumping.”

We applaud Zac for doing whatever it took to save this teenager’s life! Find out more about this in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!