Forget about the fancy suit! When this groom, who was formally decently for a wedding shoot, saw a little boy struggling in the water, he didn’t need to think twice before rushing to his rescue. He was later praised by netizens as a “Real Hero” for his unselfish act.
“His face was underwater and he was fighting, like he was really fighting,” Clayton Cook told CTV News.
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Even though Cook was taking part in a wedding photo shoot with his wife, Brittany Ross Cook, at Victoria Park in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, he immediately jumped into action to save the drowning little boy, upon seeing the horrific sight.
The quick-thinking Cook stood by a ledge and reached his hand out to the boy, pulling him out of the pond.
Just then, the bride, who was smiling brightly for the camera and posing for a solo photo, suddenly noticed her husband pulling the little boy out from the water.
“Clay jumped down and said, ‘Reach for my hand,’ and the kid just reached and Clay was just able to grab him and pull him right out,” Brittany Ross told CBC News.
The drowning boy had been following the newlyweds around with two other kids before the accident happened. He had apparently been pushed into the water by one of the children.
“They were playing—they thought it was a game, and the girl pushing him into the water. I don’t think they realized the severity of it,” said Ross Cook.
After the rescue, the boy was soaked and left without a word with his other two companions.
Cook’s whole heroic act was captured by London photographer Darren Hatt, whom Cook engaged for the wedding photos.
“At some point, the bride shouted out and pointed towards the river. Just as quickly as I had turned around, the groom was already in the river scooping up this little guy by his arm,” photographer Hatt told CBS News.
“I do call him my hero husband now,” said Brittany Ross. “Clay’s so humble to begin with that he didn’t see it as a big deal.”
“Clay said he didn’t even think about it, he just jumped into action. The kid’s in the water, what are you going to do? You’re going to pull him out,” she added.
The dramatic images of the rescue were posted on Hatt Photography Facebook page.
“A great start to a fruitful union,” commented one Facebook user. “That’s what I call a real HERO!” wrote another.
Source: NTD, CTV, CBS
