A stranger helped a mother and son stuck in a current in Lake Michigan

UNITED STATES: A mother was caught in a current while saving her son in Lake Michigan. When she couldn't get them closer to shore, a man appeared to help.

Time now for My Unsung Hero, our series from the team at the Hidden Brain podcast. My Unsung Hero tells the stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.

Today's story comes from Tracy Zito. In the summer of 2010, Zito and her family were vacationing near Lake Michigan. One morning, Zito took her niece, her nephew and her three kids to the beach. As she sat down the beach chair, she looked up and she saw several of the children, including her young daughter and son, racing toward the water.

TRACY ZITO: But I saw these big, very loud waves and a current and immediately ran into the water yelling after them to come back in. My niece and nephew heard me and got back to the shore. Eventually, my daughter heard me and got herself back in, but my son did not hear me.

I kept swimming towards him, yelling and yelling. Eventually, he turned around and had these huge, big eyes, and I knew he realized something was really wrong. I don't know how, but I got to him, told him to lock his hands around my neck, and I tried to swim in any direction and could not.

All of a sudden, a wave came over us. We somersaulted under the water. I didn't even know which way was up when that finished. But eventually, we surfaced, and I was completely out of breath. I raised my arm in the air hoping somebody might see my call for help.

Suddenly, another wave came over. And this time when we came back up, to my right was a man who was yelling at me to try to come to him. He grabbed my arm but was unable to move me. I, he couldn't move me. So I unlocked my son's arms, gave him to this man and asked him to please save my son. And somehow that strong man got my son on the way back. I then was able to get myself back to the shore.

This Bay News report is based on originating coverage from NPR.