WESTPORT, MASS. (WHDH) - A Canadian man who was vacationing in Massachusetts with his girlfriend saved a child from drowning off Horseneck Beach in Westport last week, officials said.

Officers responding to reports of a young male who had possibly drowned at the beach on Thursday night learned Gabriel Roy, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, had jumped into the water and saved the 8-year-old boy, according to the Westport Police Department.

Witnesses told police that the boy was pulled underwater several times by a strong undertow and that he was underwater for a “number of minutes.”

Police say the boy never lost consciousness and was alert thanks to Roy’s quick actions.

He was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital as a precaution.

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