A New Zealand man is being hailed as a hero after he rescued an 18 month-old boy after deciding to change his fishing spot at the last minute.

Gus Hutt woke up early two weeks ago to go fishing on Matata Beach in Whakatane. An avid fisherman, Gus typically walks straight to the shoreline from Murphy’s Holiday Camp site, setting up his lines at the same spot each time. On this morning, however, he spontaneously set up his fishing poles 350 feet (100 meters) away from his normal spot on the beach.

As he quietly worked his lines, Gus suddenly saw something floating about 50 feet (15 meters) away from his pole. He thought it was a doll at first, but he decided to pull it from the water to make sure. He only realized that it was a child after it “gave a small squeak.”

“He was floating at a steady pace with a rip in the water. If I hadn’t been there, or if I had just been a minute later I wouldn’t have seen him,” Gus recounted. “He was bloody lucky, but he just wasn’t meant to go; it wasn’t his time.”

It was later revealed that the boy had been on the beach with his family for the first time, and he was so excited that he unzipped their tent to go exploring as his parents slept. Somehow, he ended up getting in the water and getting carried away by the current, which is when Gus thankfully found him.

His parents were “horrified” when they learned their son had gotten out of the tent, but they were grateful that Gus was able to rescue him.

“It came as a shock to everyone. It was a very, very lucky result… it could have been a very tragic incident,” the camp’s owner said. “It’s a freakish miracle.”

Gus said that while the boy’s parents thanked him profusely, the youngster didn’t seem to understand what all the fuss was about.

“He was wriggling trying to get down to have a look at everything, he was just a lovely, cheeky little fella,” the fisherman said.

We’re so glad that this story had a happy ending! Now this boy’s parents know that they need to keep an especially close eye on their son!