A 69-year-old man broke his C5 vertebrae in his neck while boogie boarding at Narragansett Town Beach Sept. 8.
Tim Huffman and his wife Vicki vacation for a month in the beach town every year. They've come here from Connecticut for 16 years
The couple was searching for the man responsible for pulling Huffman out of the water that day, but the rescuer came forward after he saw the story right here on NBC 10 News.
"I'm in one of my favorite places in the world, doing what I love, and I'm going to die right here. There wasn't much time and thank the Lord and Tim that I did not die," said Tim Huffman.
Hoffman was swept under the wave while boogie boarding with other riders.
"It put me like into a washing machine on a spin cycle where you just start spinning," explained Huffman.
Huffman told NBC 10 News that he knew immediately that he broke his neck, he was under water and couldn't move.
"I'm starting to get worried, and I don't know how long I can hold my breath. I hope someone will come pull me out of here," said Huffman.
One of the men who was boogie boarding alongside Huffman, who happened to have the same name, pulled him out of the water.
"He said who saved me? This guy looked over at him and said, 'Me buddy, and I was boogie boarding with you.' And he said, 'What's your name?'" explained Vicki, Huffman's wife who spent the week looking for their hero Tim.
While Huffman continues to recover in the hospital, the family brought signs down to the beach trying to find his rescuer. After no luck, they thought "The other Tim" could just be an angel.
The family thought this until NBC 10's 7 p.m. newscast reached the right person.
"At the end, they said coming up at 11, there's a story about a man who was saved in a boogie boarding accident in Narragansett and I said to my wife, 'I wonder if that's the guy that I pulled out of the water last week'," said Timothy Kane, the man who was there on the day of the accident boogie boarding alongside Huffman.
NBC 10 discovered Kane pulled Huffman out of the water and waited with him until emergency officials arrived.
"I just feel I was there for a reason. It's a strange feeling," explained Kane, "I'm glad he's alright and I know he would do the same thing for me too, he's a fellow boogie boarder."
The Huffman family said they are extremely thankful for all those who were there and helped that day. Adding that they feel a special connection with the Narragansett community that they never felt in 16 years.