When AJ Darby heard cries of help coming from the waters off Grape Bay, he instinctively leapt in the water to help.

Now, the 18-year-old is being credited with saving the life of a Canadian visitor, who had found herself fighting a strong current during an afternoon swim with her grandson.

“It was just all instinct,” he said yesterday. “I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I don’t have any lifeguard training or anything, although I would like to get it now.

“I’m just really glad that she and her grandson are OK. That was my main concern.”

Talking about the rescue yesterday, Mr Darby said that on the afternoon of August 1, he went to the South Shore, Paget beach with his sister and other family members to enjoy a swim.

“When we got down to the beach there were a couple of people who wanted me to take their picture,” he said. “They gave me the camera and I heard this distant yelling. I looked around and didn’t see anything, but then I heard it again and saw what looked like a floating body in a pink bathing suit.

“I ran out there and she was screaming for someone to help her. She was pretty far out. I couldn’t stand, but I swam out to her. She was floating on her back. I just put my arms around her shoulders, put her back on my chest and just swam to my shore.

“As I was swimming with her, the undertow was trying to pull me back out. I wasn’t afraid for myself at the time though. It was a do-without-thinking kind of moment. Once I could walk I pulled her in and a couple of gentlemen helped me help her up.”

Safely on shore, he said he spoke to the woman for a while to make sure she was all right. During the conversation, he discovered that they had lived in neighbouring Nova Scotia towns.

“It was really weird. I asked her where she was from and she said she was from Amherst,” he said. “I was born here, but I moved to Truro when I was young. I had just come back here the week before looking for a job. We had both sort of lived just 17 minutes away. That was a pretty cool connection that we had.”

He said he posed for a picture and walked away with his family once he was sure she and her grandson were safe, but the woman he rescued — Marge Rabouin — decided to reach out on Facebook to find Mr Darby.

She told the Canadian Broadcasting Company that she was swimming with her grandson when she found herself caught in a rip current.

“I wasn’t able to swim back because when I refractured my ribs, I lost the ability to swim strongly,” she said.

Mrs Rabouin told the media outlet that she had given up when Mr Darby came to her aid. “I am too tired now. I am out of breath. Unless someone is coming to get me, I’m drowning,” she recalled. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I just see this redhead grabbing me.”

“He took it like a champ. [Like it was] no big deal. I don’t think he ever thought I would make anything of it. He just saved somebody and walked away.”

Mr Darby said that her message was eventually spotted by a friend, who showed it to him and he responded, telling her that he was just in the right place at the right time.

He also said that people should be aware of the undertow in the area, which can be dangerous. “It’s pretty bad out here. When I’m swimming by myself it pulls me, but I always make sure I come back in before I go too far out,” he said. “Hopefully people will be more alert.”

He said he hopes to meet with Mrs Rabouin for a chat some time soon in less stressful circumstances.

Mrs Rabouin, meanwhile, said that she is forever grateful for his heroic actions, saying: “I think everyone will tell you that you look at things a little differently. I’m just happy to wake up every day.”