U.S. Guard rescuers from Mobile were involved in a daring rescue over the weekend while training in Oregon, with footing showing a cabin cruiser rolled by heavy storm swells as a rescue swimmer swims toward it.

According to information released by the Coast Guard, the incident occurred Friday, Feb. 3, as rescuers responded to a 10 a.m. distress call about six miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River. Rescuers found the 35-foot Sandpiper, which had been reported stolen by its owner, disabled amid storm-driven waves that were tossing it around like a toy.

The Coast Guard reports that “A Station Cape Disappointment crew aboard a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew of the Advanced Rescue Helicopter School launched from Station Cape Disappointment. Multiple crews of the National Motor Lifeboat School who were conducting training in the area also diverted to respond. Coast Guard crews were on scene at approximately 10:40 a.m.”

As it happened, that helicopter crew consisted mostly of visitors from Mobile’s U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center.

According to a Facebook post by the Aviation Training Center, “ATC’s own LT Tripp Haas, LCDR Will Sirokman, AMT1 Joe Ivy, AET1 Kyle Turcotte and AST3 John Walton were diverted from training at the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School (AHRS) in Astoria Oregon to conduct a rescue in heavy seas. AHRS teaches Urban SAR, vertical insertion, cliff and high surf rescues, exactly what was faced on this case, resulting in ONE LIFE SAVED! Bravo Zulu!”

A Coast Guard regional spokesman in New Orleans said that most of the crew, and the helicopter itself, were based in Mobile, but that Walton, the rescue swimmer seen in the dramatic video, was based at Air Station North Bend in Oregon.

The report from the rescuers said that “On scene personnel communicated with the distressed mariner and learned that the vessel was taking on water. On scene conditions were reported to be 20-foot seas and extremely high windspeeds.”

“The rescue swimmer, a student of the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School, was deployed to the water using a winch cable before swimming toward the vessel. As the swimmer made his approach, a breaking wave capsized the vessel. The mariner was ejected from the vessel as a result and suffered minor injuries.”

While the footage doesn’t show the swimmer reaching the boater, it does make it seem like a miracle that he was able to do so. Footage shows the swimmer and the rescued man being winched to safety aboard the helicopter.

According to the Coast Guard report, the survivor was delivered to emergency medical personnel in stable condition. “After the mariner was released to the care of emergency medical personnel, local authorities notified the Coast Guard that the individual is suspected to have stolen the vessel. Astoria Police Department is leading that investigation,” said the report.

“Good Morning America” reported that the man involved in the incident, Jericho Labonte, 35, of Victoria, British Columbia, was also wanted for “a bizarre incident in which police said he left a dead fish at the Astoria, Oregon, home featured in the classic 1985 film, ‘The Goonies.’”

“As a rescue swimmer, this was Aviation Survival Technician 3rd Class John ‘Branch’ Walton’s first life saved. Hours later, he and his classmates graduated from the Advanced Rescue Helicopter School,” concluded the report.