Afternoon swim turns into life-changing moment for childhood friends

An afternoon tubing trip down the Saco River in New Hampshire, turned into a life-changing and life-saving moment for three US teens.

Childhood friends Zach Morin, Jeremy Conlin and Chris Lamott were enjoying their summer holidays and were almost at the end of the 2.4km floating route down on the river when they noticed a man in his 70's clearly in distress

"I knew he was in trouble because he was yelling help, and he can't breathe," Zach told reporters.

The man wasn't wearing a life jacket and had fallen off his tube into about six feet of water, with his head bobbing under by the time they reached him.

"I was in the tube, and I had his arms, so i was pulling him up on the tube," Jeremy recalled of the rescue.

"I was kind of hanging on to Jeremy's tube, underneath him [the man being rescued], holding up his head and his chest," Chris added.

While Zach noted his role in the rescue was "behind pushing everyone trying to get him to shore, which was kind of hard. It was a lot of weight."

It took awhile but these three Amesbury High students got the man safely to a dock, before one of them ran to alert the tubing company to call emergency services.

Looking back on it, the boys say trusting each other and working together helped them rise to the occasion. Their own lifelong friendship — which started in preschool and carried over to sports and vacations — led to those critical moments on the Saco that saved a life.

"After I calmed down, I was wicked proud of us," Chris said.

"I was just happy that he was alive," Zach added.

While for Jim, it's a memory that will stay with him forever.

"It was really really a proud moment to see those boys doing that...that i'll never forget. Really, a proud moment."