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Surfer reunited with teen he rescued from Lake Michigan

Posted at 5:22 PM, Aug 21, 2015
and last updated 2015-08-21 22:05:11-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A 25-year-old surfer who rescued a 13-year-old girl from the treacherous waters of Lake Michigan was reunited with the teen Friday.

Zebulon Boeskool jumped into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven State Park on Thursday and pulled Jozalin Francis from the water.   Her lungs were filled with water and she was taken to the hospital in serious condition, but is doing much better a day later.

Zeb reunited with Jozalin at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Friday before she was discharged.

"It's great to see you breathing," Zeb told the teen after meeting her at the hospital.  "Give me a hug, I'm so glad to see you."

Jozalin was at the beach with a 14-year-old friend when they both became stuck out in the water.

"We would let the waves push us to shore but then they kept pushing us out farther, and we were screaming 'Help!" she said.

The other girl Jozalin was with was pulled to shore by another bystander and was released from the hospital Thursday.

"If he wasn't out there then I wouldn't be here now," Jozalin said of Zeb.

The National Weather Service issued a beach hazards statement for much of the Lake Michigan shoreline Thursday.