Former Bermudian sportsman Raymond Todd is not only famous for his sporting abilities - he has also saved numerous people's lives since he became a lifeguard in 1962.

And Mr. Todd knows what it feels like to be a victim, for he himself has also had the horrifying experience of being rescued when his life was in danger.

"I know what it feels like," he said. "Especially when you put your hands in the air and say, 'I'm giving up,'. You taste the water and think hey, this is drowning."

Mr. Todd was honoured by the Bermuda Bravery Award Association for having saved eight people's lives since he returned from representing Bermuda in football in South America in 1962.

But it was during Hurricane Edna in 1969 that he himself was swept into the water at Pink Beach, just after warning several tourists that it was dangerous to be on the beach at that time.

The Police, Fire brigade, and a crowd of bystanders were already on the beach watching the rescue attempts when Mr. Todd was sucked up under a rock, he said.

"I had given up. I put my hands up in the air and said it twice. But then I said no, you have to get up and go with the tide.

"I fought and headed back out towards the ocean and Eardley Jones saw me."

Mr. Jones, he explained, was "A South Shore swimmer ... the Police were not South Shore swimmers. That's a whole different ball game."

Mr. Jones grabbed a life ring and fought his way through the surf to save Mr. Todd.

"You can't really say anything other than thanks," Mr. Todd said. "He got a medal from the Queen for it."

The incident was one of the "hot points" that Mr. Todd said still flash back to him later in his life.

"When you say hey, how lucky I am. You laugh at times but sometimes you stop and say I was in the position of drowning."

Yet despite what he went through, Mr. Todd said he has never hesitated in times after that when he spotted people who were in need of help.

The Horseshoe Bay resident has saved people from all walks of life, including a woman who weighed 280 pounds who, when he reached her, also said she had given up.

"I told her to pray," he said.

He also once saved a ten-year old boy who appeared to have struck his head on the cliffs by the incinerator. He took the boy to the hospital, however never heard from his parents.

Then, 30 years later, he was in the Marsh Folly area when he bumped into a man who said his name was Michael Dowling - the name of the boy he had saved decades earlier.

"I said, 'Do you know me? I'm Ray Todd!'

"He said, 'You're the one who saved me.'

"Thank God he remembered. 30 years later he's walking around. Those are the points you don't forget."