PENSACOLA, Florida (WJW) – A teen is being remembered as a hero after he drowned while trying to save several kids off the Florida coast last week.

According to reports from Fox News and other outlets, 16-year-old Bryce Brooks, from Atlanta, was vacationing with his family in Pensacola on Thursday when four kids trapped in an undercurrent got swept out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Brooks and two others went out to help the kids, who were complete strangers to him, but reports say Brooks was pulled underwater by the currents and drowned. Charles Johnson II, an older family friend who tried to save Brooks, also drowned.

The four children survived.

Other people at the scene pulled Brooks and Johnson from the water, but they were both pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Brooks’ mother, Crystal, spoke to FOX 5 Atlanta, saying, “We know that he stepped into his manhood to save these children, and that makes me proud. It doesn’t take away an ounce of pain, but it makes me proud of our son.”