Just like our favorite superheroes, Boy Scouts have a keen eye for spotting those in distress, charging to their aid and saving the day or someone’s life. While they aren’t more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, they have something that comic book characters don’t have: Scout knowledge. And that Scout know-how is exactly what saved the day when a 13-year-old Boy Scout rescued a man from drowning in the Cahaba River in Bibb County, Ala.

Boy Scout A.J. and his father were standing on a rock next to the river when they noticed a man being swept away by a current at the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge.

The Scout plunged into the river and pulled the man from the current’s grasps. The father and son immediately administered CPR.

“I learned it in Boy Scouts,” said A.J. to WVTM 13. “I got an emergency prep merit badge and we learned how to do that.”

The duo’s repeated compressions stabilized the man before the West Blocton Fire and Rescue team even arrived.

“They already had the guy back breathing with a pulse and everything,” said West Blocton Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief C.J. Hardemon to WVTM 13.

And now to A.J.’s dad and Bibb County, this Boy Scout is a superhero.

“I couldn’t be anymore proud of him,” praised his dad.

Learn more about this modern day superhero by checking out the full story on WVTM 13.