On April 4, 2024, Tyler Bois ’19 was honored at the American Red Cross 2024 Boston Heroes Breakfast for saving a woman and her two daughters from drowning at Mayflower Beach on Cape Cod. The annual awards ceremony is held at Boston’s State Street Bank, and it pays tribute to first responders and good Samaritans who make a difference in their communities through acts of courage, kindness, and service. 

It was towards the end of Tyler’s shift on July 27, 2023, when a fellow guard noticed signs of struggle from a trio of swimmers. A shift in the wind and current was pulling the swimmers further away from shore, and they were clearly in distress. A veteran guard, Tyler grabbed his board and was the first in the water. He reached the barely conscious mother, pulling her and one daughter onto his board. The other girl, who was unconscious, was placed on another guard’s board behind him. Fighting the choppy waves and weight of the swimmers, Tyler paddled hard to get back to shore, knowing that time was crucial. The guards worked side by side in two groups on the sand. One girl did not have a pulse, and chest compressions were started in the water and continued on shore until signs of breathing returned. Two swimmers were placed on their sides in the recovery position to get the seawater out of their lungs. 

It was only after ambulances took the three swimmers to the hospital that Tyler and the other guards had a chance to start processing what had just happened. Even though they had done all they could in the moment, they still weren’t sure everyone would be okay. “As lifeguards, we were always told to prepare for the worst, and in the moment, we were thinking the worst,” he recalls. When they got word two hours later that all three swimmers were expected to recover fully, they took a moment to recognize what they had been through together. “We all came together and talked about how well we did and that we were proud of the guy next to us.”

The recognition at the Boston Heroes Breakfast was an opportunity for the lifeguard team to come back together and share the moment with their families. “Being recognized in front of my peers and family for one of the proudest moments in my twenty-one years of life felt unreal,” says Tyler. It was a day to appreciate one another and the experience they shared. “Together, we did something great and had each other’s backs the entire way. My family has been there for me the entire trip, and seeing them in the audience supporting me again made me feel on top of the world.”