A California woman jumped into dangerous surf to save a surfer who had been knocked unconscious by a huge wave. The rescue happened on September 26 at a beach in Oceanside, San Diego County.

Benita Karo, 39, was walking along the shore and recording the powerful waves on her phone. She saw a surfer being carried toward the rocks. A massive wave slammed him into them. When he did not resurface, she moved closer and saw him floating face down.

Still fully clothed, Karo went into the rough water. She reached the unconscious man and held his head above the surface as waves kept crashing against the rocks. “I sat there with him, holding him, just trying to keep his head above water,” she said.

Another surfer and people from a nearby beach house soon helped pull the man ashore. Emergency crews took him to hospital. Karo suffered minor scratches.

The surfer was identified as Bob Asselin, 75, who has surfed for 50 years. He later met Karo at the hospital and is making a full recovery. His wife Mary called Karo “an angel.