Alex Spungen of Deerfield swam out to help the boy back into shallow water and then returned to rescue the father, who was in trouble amid high swells on a windy Christmas Eve.
"It just happened so fast. It didn't really seem like it was wrong to do, I didn't really question it. It wasn't until later that night that I felt like, OK, I actually did this. I, like, helped save this man," Alex said.
Alex's heroics were witnessed by a couple from Buffalo Grove, who took pictures before they learned the hero was also from the Chicago area.