A teenager is being heralded for his bravery after risking his life to save four people from drowning in the Pascagoula River in Mississippi. One of the victims said the boy saved her life right before she took her “last breath.”

Chief Brandon Ashley of the Moss Point Police Department said 16-year-old Corion Evans jumped into a river to save the lives of three strangers on July 3. The Pascagoula High student saw a vehicle with three teen girls inside drive off an I-10 boat launch into the water around 2:30 a.m. The car approx. 20 feet from the river’s bank and started sinking — sparking Evans’ sense of alarm.

In an interview with WLOX said, “They drove straight under the water. Like, only a little bit of the car was still above the water.”

After seeing the situation he dove into the river. Evans says he has been swimming since he was three years old, “I was just like, ‘I can’t let none of these folks die. They need to get out the water’. So, I just started getting them. I wasn’t even thinking about nothing else.”

“I was behind them trying to keep them above water and swim with them at the same time,” the boy said.

Karon “KJ” Bradley, Evans’ friend was with him, also helped in saving the three girls who could have drowned in the water by jumping in after Evans and helping the girls to the top of the car. After the two teen boys were helping the girls, Moss Point police officer Gary Mercer swam out to assist the two heroes. However, he was overwhelmed by the water, according to Evans.

Officer Mercer attempted to bring one girl to shore, she “began panicking and caused him to go under, swallowing some water,” police report said.

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