PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — As a School Resource Officer at Pensacola High School, police officer Anthony Giorgio is used to looking out for kids and making sure they are safe.

“Ever since since I was very small I have wanted to help out other people,” he says.

That drive to help is always with him and it certainly was Mother’s Day in Perdido Key. “A total of four kids were pulled out of the water that day and one adult so, five people from Johnson’s Beach.”

Giorgio had been celebrating the day with his Mom, “It was a pretty good day. We had a good time.” As he reached in to hug her goodbye, “My mom goes pale in the face and says oh my God Anthony, they’re drowning.”

Just that quick that instinct to help kicked in, “I jumped in as fast as I could and swam out to the first person that I saw. Once I got them, I swam them back to the group of people at the shore, kind of handed that child off and I looked back and saw another individual swimming in another child. So I swam back there.” he remembers.

In all, three trips into the water, five people rescued including Kenya Nguyen’s two teenagers. “That’s all that I got is two children but I was certain that I was not going to be able to go home with any,” she said, but she did, everyone survived.

“I believe that everybody was there for the right reason at the right time,” said Giorgio. “I’m glad for my role.”

When it was all over Giorgio was exhausted but he needed to do one more thing. “I called my Mom after that and said that’s was kind of insane. My Mom was like definitely a Mother’s Day to remember.”

For his part in the Mother’s Day rescue, we honor Pensacola Police officer Anthony Giorgio this month’s Smile Behind the Shield.