A groom became a hero on his wedding day while he and his newly-wedded wife were taking pictures in a Canada park.

According to the CBC, three kids had been following Clay and his wife, Brittany Ross Cook, around Victoria Park in the city of Kitchener, Ontario, while photographer Darren Hatt snapped pictures of the newly-married couple. While Hatt took solo pictures of Brittany, Clay stood to the side, and looking over his shoulder, noticed that one of the children was missing.

“They were by the river and looking into the river, so Clay headed over there to check it out and the kid was in the river and the kids were pointing at him like, ‘He can’t swim,'” Brittany told CBC. “Clay jumped down and said, ‘Reach for my hand,’ and the kid just reached and Clay was just able to grab him and pull him right out.”

Wedding photographer, Darren Hatt, also confirmed that the little boy nearly drowned entirely.

“The kid was under water on his back. He ingested water and there was mucous coming out of his nose,” he told London’s CTV News. ““It was scary. (The boy) was struggling. It could have gone unnoticed.”

While Brittany thought the children ranging from six to eight years of age might not have realized what happened.

“They were playing — they thought it was a game, and the girl pushing him into the water,” she explained. “I don’t think they realized the severity of it.”

Brittany says they didn’t meet any parents or adults accompanying the children but only an older girl who came to fetch the boy after he was pulled out of the water.

Clay’s heroics went viral after Hatt posted a picture of the rescue on his Facebook, with the caption: “A special shout out to last night’s groom Clayton! While I was taking solo pictures of the bride this little guy was pushed into the river behind me by another child. By the time the bride noticed and shouted out, Clayton had already jumped down and brought him to safety. His quick action saved the little guy who was struggling to swim. Well done sir!”

The post quickly garnered over a thousand likes, and hundreds of comments from users who were moved by Clay’s act of heroism.

Sources: Little Things, The Shred/Facebook/ Video Credit: Fox 2 Now