A video of a human chain saving a drowning boy in New Zealand has gone viral.
On Sunday, Joshua McQuoid and two friends were playing at a Napier beach when a wave dragged McQuoid out to sea. According to the Australian, beachgoers became frantic and a German tourist tried to unsuccessfully pull him out of the water.
Soon after, several other people linked arms to form a giant human chain. Fighting against the current, the 12-person chain went into the surf to bring the boy to safety, the video above shows.
The police officers at the front of the chain grabbed McQuoid and threw him to shore, where members of the public administered first aid and an ambulance transported him to Hawke's Bay Hospital. He has since been released.
"When I was in there I thought I was going to die," McQuoid told New Zealand's One News. "The waves smashed me so much, there were five really big ones, they flipped me around quite a few times, I was underwater."
The crowd's reaction left McQuoid's father stunned and grateful.
"The presence of mind of one of the officers to form the human chain and the spirit of everyone involved to react immediately was a fantastic effort and resulted in this boy being brought to shore and to safety," Senior Sergeant Mike Stevenson told Radio New Zealand.
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