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Teen called a ‘guardian angel’ in dramatic Muskegon River rescue

Posted at 6:27 PM, Aug 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-01 18:27:26-04

GRANT, Mich. -- A Fremont couple is thanking God and a "guardian angel" for saving their 3-year-old son's life just a few days ago.

Angela and Andrew Tyler posted about the incident on Facebook, thanking a young man for pulling their son from the Muskegon River on July 27.

The young hero is 14-year-old Hunter Hoofman from Muskegon, who doesn't know if he's worthy of the "hero" title.

"I'm still working on believing I did it," he said.

Hoofman had just finished a tubing and kayaking trip with his family and was standing about 50 feet from shore when the incident happened. He said he heard the young boy's parents yelling and immediately jumped in the water.

"I looked underneath the dock to see where he was at," said Hoofman. "I came back up for a second of air, and I dug deep in the sand, and I pushed through, and I went underneath, and I grabbed him, pulled him down, and then pushed him out."

The 3-year-old boy had been playing in shallow water with his father when the river's current took him underneath a nearby dock. His head was lodged in a small air pocket underneath the dock.

"The slots in the dock start out skinny, and they actually get wider as they go in. And his head was lodged up inside of there," said Hoofman.

The boy's Mother, Angela Tyler, contacted FOX 17 and reiterated what she said in her original Facebook post, thanking Hunter for what he did. She said she could never thank him enough for what he did for her family.