For California resident Maira Khan, an oceanside photo opp almost turned into tragedy.
Khan and her friend had climbed a set of rocks that stretch out into the ocean. Just as her friend looked down to adjust her camera, a set of six-foot waves started rolling in, the Orange County Register reports.
Suddenly, Khan, who can't swim, found herself hanging off the rocks.
Luckily James Pribram -- a pro surfer who originally learned the sport in that same spot -- happened to be sitting on his parents' balcony looking out at the ocean.
He yelled to his mother to call 911 and ran toward Khan as she was being swept away among the rocks and the reef.
"You couldn't have put her in a more dangerous place -- that with the fact that she didn't know how to swim."
Pribram reached the end of the rocks and dove into the churning water. He pulled Khan, scraped and bleeding, on to the rocks and turned her over to paramedics. Khan tells the Orange County Register how grateful she was:
"I feel like he was sent from God to see me at that moment and save my life."
Pribram will add "lifesaver" to his list of accomplishments that include environmental awards and being named Laguna Beach's 2011 Athlete of the Year for teaching kids to care for the ocean.
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