A Good Samaritan who rescued three members of a family from the ocean in Stone Harbor over the Fourth of July weekend is set to be honored by borough officials next week. Newly released police video shows Stone Harbor officers racing onto the beach on the evening of July 5 as Rob Gretzmacher was already in the surf after hearing frantic cries for help. “And then I saw the one girl flagging her arms, yelling, ‘help, help,'” Gretzmacher said. “And I could look to see the look on her face. I’m like, ‘oh this does not look good.'” Lifeguards were off duty when the family got into trouble, prompting Gretzmacher to sprint from the beach toward the three people struggling in the ocean. He reached the teenaged girl first. “I like kind of grabbed like under her arms and started doing like the side stroke to keep both of our heads above water and started go swimming back in and she was like frantic,” Gretzmacher said. After bringing her to shore, Gretzmacher repeatedly returned to the water and rescued the girl’s brother and their father. Stone Harbor Police Sgt. Matthew Sokorai ran into the ocean, still wearing his uniform after removing his vest and gun belt, to help bring the father to shore. “It could have been disastrous, but he saved three people. It was amazing work by him,” Sokorai said. Gretzmacher said he and his fiancée had already walked off the beach and reached the dunes when they heard the cries for help. “I think it would have went longer, it would have been like a totally different outcome, and it’s just crazy to think about,” Gretzmacher said. Gretzmacher said he worked as a pool lifeguard in high school. Stone Harbor Borough Council members are expected to recognize him at their meeting next week. “That was a very selfless, brave act,” Stone Harbor Beach Patrol Capt. Sandy Bosacco said. “They were very fortunate that he was there at that time.” Despite the recognition, Gretzmacher downplayed his actions. “I don’t really feel like anything special. I just kind of reacted,” he said. “I’m just like glad I was there.” This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC Philadelphia. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC Philadelphia journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less