Two Memphis brothers spent their Monday afternoon pulling a stranger and his son out of rough surf off Cocoa Beach, Florida, after spotting the pair struggling in the waves far from shore. Kingston James, 13, and Landon James, 15, swam out together once they realized the father and son were stuck and couldn't make it back in on their own.
According to WREG, the father had gone into the water to try to reach his son after the boy drifted too far out, and both ended up stranded together. The brothers say they noticed the pair some distance from shore and swam toward them without hesitation. Landon, who attends Whitestation Middle School, said he had to calm the panicking swimmers down mid-rescue. “I told them not to pull me and my brother down,” he said, describing the moment both men grabbed for him and Kingston as they struggled to stay afloat.
The boys' aunt, Stephanie Powell, watched the rescue unfold from the sand and began filming. “I got on my camera and started videotaping,” she said. A lifeguard also stepped in to help, and the station reported that the father and son made it back to shore safely with the lifeguard's assistance. No one was hurt in the incident, and per the report, neither first responders nor police were called afterward since there were no injuries.
Brothers Who Grew Up in the Water
Kingston, who attends Whitestation High School, and Landon have been swimming since they were toddlers, a background that WREG's report credited with helping them react quickly once they saw the family in trouble. Once the father and son were safe and had thanked the brothers, Kingston and Landon didn't head in for the day — they went right back into the water. Kingston said the moment is one he'll hold onto. “It's going to be something I remember for the rest of my life because we helped somebody,” he said, per the outlet's account.
A Dangerous Stretch for Brevard County Surf
The rescue adds to a string of dangerous ocean incidents that have plagued Brevard County's beaches this year. In mid-April, officials warned that heavy surf had torn up sandbars along the coast, creating what FLORIDA TODAY described as dangerous “flash rip currents” after two people died in the surf. That same stretch of water claimed the lives of a 34-year-old Ohio woman who entered the water to help her stepson and a 42-year-old Connecticut man who then attempted to help, both drowning on April 14, as the paper separately reported.
By early May, a 17-year-old drowned at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach in an incident where county lifeguards managed to bring a 12-year-old safely to shore, marking the third drowning death in the city in under a month. Officials continued urging caution heading into the summer, noting at least three drownings along Brevard's beaches by the time of the July 4 holiday weekend. The National Weather Service has said rip current risk has remained high in the area, according to WFTV, which noted that rip currents can move at five to eight miles per hour — fast enough to overtake even strong swimmers.
Brevard County's Ocean Lifeguard program lists drowning prevention, public education and swimmer rescues among its core responsibilities, according to the county's own description of the service. Rescues like the one involving the James brothers echo the July 18, 2025, rescue at Treasure Island Beach in Laguna Beach, California, where teen surfers were honored for pulling a family from a rip current, as Surfer reported. For the Memphis family, though, the outcome was simple: two young swimmers who grew up in the water ended up being exactly what two strangers needed on a dangerous afternoon at the beach.
